Those fears were ill-founded, leading me to once again repeat what should be my mantra: “Joan Jett and Kenny Laguna can do no wrong.” In a year that is already proving to be the best year for punk rock in quite a while, The Vacancies are making it even better.

Tantrum refuses to rest on the sound laid down A Beat Missing… Not only does it match the intensity of The Vacancies’ Blackheart debut, it takes that record, which was so good to begin with, punches it in the mouth, knocks it down, calls it names and sends it home to its mommy.

My first impression - It’s a great sign when a record offers up 14 tracks in just over 36 minutes. You’re hoping for no filler, and the album delivers… ummm… doesn’t deliver? I mean it has no filler. It does deliver no filler. It doesn’t deliver filler. Whatever.

The opening track, “Compound”, sets the stage for the entire album. It’s a 45-second assault that gets your heart rate up, and preps your ears for what you’re getting into. From then on, the ride is fast and easy.

Tantrum continues on with street punk that’s as gritty as the band’s home town, yet filled with enough musical and lyrical hooks to keep your fist pumping. From the obligatory 40-oz. street punk drinking song, “Below Merlot”, to the in-your-face anthemic antics of “Pride, to the sweet stripped-down melodic feel of “Sick Modern Era”, to the straight-up rock and roll rebellion of “Way Out”… and you know what? This is just the first five tracks!

Seriously, there is not a single track on Tantrum that misses its mark, no matter the sound the band is going for. They vary it up, taking it from street to rock, adding the occasional bits of garage-flavored riffs and snot-nosed punk attitude and never hit a slow point or a stumble.

The album wraps up with the Bouncing Souls-esque “Savior”, a tune that’s pure blue-collar melodic punk. It would be a really nice end to the album, except I have yet to end the album there. I start right back up at the beginning again.

While I will probably always be an avid devotee of Joan Jett and everything Blackheart is releasing right now, I am ever-so-thankful to Billy Crooked and the Vacancies for Tantrum, a record that proves it’s more than idle hero worship. She knows how to pick great bands, and they know how to deliver.