Whippersnapper,

Peachtree City's homegrown punk band, will perform Friday

night starting around 9:30 p.m. at Jitterbuggers.

The

five-member group is awaiting the release Oct. 26 of its

second CD, "The Long Walk," which they claim is

"definitely different" from their first album.

Copies of the CD will be available for the first time

Friday night at the pre-release show.

"The

first one was a little more derivative of what other

people were doing... it wasn't very developed, it wasn't

very mature," said lyricist and lead singer Andy

Munn. "We tried to do something a little different

on this record... the last one was kind of the West Coast

style and since we're not from there, we started thinking

how we could get our own individual sound," Munn

said. Elaborating on the new release, he continued

"There's a lot more dynamics, it's stronger

melodically; it's not just fast."

Drummer Pat

Kerr added that the new CD saves some of the flavors of

the first album with some different beats, a taste of

jazz and some four-part vocal harmonies. "We've

taken it to the next step," Kerr said.

Prior to

recording its new album, the band holed up in a lakeside

cabin outside Lawrence, Kans., where members spent five

weeks writing songs and experiencing an array of twists

and turns in their search to find their musical selves.

All agreed it was the most fun they have had in a long

time.

In the year

and a half since their first album debuted,

Whippersnapper has been touring, playing and trying to

improve their name recognition. "The potential for

money is getting better," Munn said. Their outlook

is definitely bright with the release of "The Long

Walk," which they anticipate will be played at

college and university-run radio stations.

"We

recorded it in Colorado, Fort Collins, at the Blasting

Room. That's what our last trip was all about,"

reported Jason Joseph, guitarist. It's on the Lobster

Records label, the same as their debut label. The

public's reaction to the band's new release will have a

lot of impact on the course of the future, the group

concedes.

One song,

entitled "Equations," is the one cut on the CD

that band members believe has a good chance for air play.

"It's probably one of the better radio-type

songs," Joseph said.

Whippersnapper

plans to tour as much as possible in the next few months,

try to get back to Europe and into Canada. "We're

definitely going to be touring the country a lot and then

there's lots of things in the works," Munn said.

The band's

name recognition and fan base is growing steadily, and

the members are pleased that more and more punk music

buffs have heard abut them. "We're still pretty

fresh. We've actually only been out there for a little

over one and half years," Kerr admitted. He noted

that many of the more successful groups are in their

mid-20s, while Whippersnapper members are just turning

21.

In addition

to Munn, Kerr and Joseph, who have been jamming together

since their days at J.C. Booth Middle School, there is

Andy Belote on bass and Mike Fink on guitar.

Whippersnapper

will be at Jitterbuggers, on Tivoli Circle on Peachtree

City, Friday night. The opening band, starting around

8:30 p.m., is Better Off Worse. Admission is $7 for

nonmembers.

For

information about Whippersnapper, log onto their website

at www.windy.com/whippersnapper .

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