With their third full length album, the Low Budgets (self-proclaimed “Valu-Rockers”) have given fans heaps of what they’ve come to expect . And what Low Budgets fans expect - nay, what they CRAVE - is raw, yet absurdly catchy punk rock, with an unrelenting sense of humor. Songs about money, pizza, the perils of repetitive television, and effing the status quo come together to create a punk rock work of art.

First, some history. The seeds for the Low Budgets were planted, according to the band, following the final Dead Milkmen show in 1996. The Budgets wanted to create music, made and sold for cheap. The effort was also meant to be minimal, but with maximum sonic pleasure as the end goal.

And so it was. The foursome slowly came together, releasing their debut LP, Go For Broke, on the Akhenation Music label in 2003. Next came Aim Low, Get High, also on Akhenation, in 2005. Leave Us A Loan is garnering the band their greatest publicity to date, thanks to exposure on the web, as well a current U.S. tour.

The album’s opener, “Asthma Attacker,” is Cars-meets-Rancid, splitting its time evenly between a bass & organ driven groove and a wonderfully reckless chorus. This dynamic has become the trademark of these Philly punkers. The Budgets are equally comfortable in a geeky New Wave groove or flirting with hardcore punk attitude.

Frontman / guitarist Chris Peelout has one of the most interesting vocal styles in modern punk. (His “oh-oh-oh’s” would be enough of a foundation to build a signature sound upon.) And a terrific sense of humor. Peelout’s irreverent shouts are pure, juvenile, punk rock magic. Take, for instance, his taunting of an officer-in-pursuit on the defiant, “Fat Cop” - “Fat cop / You eat too many doughnuts / Fat cop / You can’t catch me.” Simple, yet direct. And deceptively brilliant.

Leave Us A Loan is intentionally under-produced - probably because the band’s moniker is no joke, but a fervent creed in practice. The songs aren’t under-arranged, though, nor underwritten. The Budgets are a capable lot of musicians, also featuring former Dead Milkman, Joe Jack Talcum (on organ and vocals), and a tight rhythm section, comprised of bassist Dandrew This and drummer Steve Please.

You might get the impression the Low Budgets are a bit adolescent, from tracks like “Wipe My Ass With the World” and “Shit” (which features a recurring group vocal, chanting that very word). And, for the most part, you are beautifully, beautifully right. In “Craft Fair,” Talcum sings of the after-school antics of some friends - one whose sole regret is that his mother doesn’t GET crafts. (Dead Milkmen’s “Nutrition” anyone?) The goofiness is kind of the point. So, if it turns you off, just don’t listen.

But, if you don’t listen, you’ll be missing out. The Low Budgets possess the unique ability to make you skank, pound your fist in the air, or do a skinny-tie wiggle - sometimes all in the same song. The instrumental “Clark Park After Dark” recalls classic Buzzcocks instrumentals, like “Moving Away from the Pulsebeat,” except that the Budgets are a touch better at knowing when to stop. Yes, these guys are some fine, talented musicians, regardless of their minimalist ethos.

Leave Us A Loan proves to the listener that some bands still believe punk songs should be short. Ten of the album’s fifteen tracks are under two minutes in length, with the album’s longest entry being the grungy, three-minute-long, “Philadelphia.” (“We met over by the railroad tracks / Which reminds me I want my jacket back.”) All told, the record runs just a hair over 27 minutes. And it’s very consistent. Yet, it manages to satisfy a variety of musical palettes.

The Budgets might insist that “minimum effort” yields better results, and their genius lies in this approach. Still, you get the feeling that there was real work put into some of these songs. The horn-punctuated “Breathing Kiel” is a rare tender moment for the band. One of the finest musical moments on LUAL, it’s a call to do what makes you happy, despite what might be best for your checkbook. “I’m sick about what everyone’s saying / Give up what you love just ‘cause it isn’t paying / I’d rather ruffle feathers, try to weather the storm / Than succumb to the pressure of the apathetic norm.” The “Valu-Rock” philosophy espoused by the Low Budgets isn’t just for laughs. It’s also, absolutely, about independence.

The tour for Leave Us A Loan kicked off, fittingly, in West Philadelphia, on September 14th. The Budgets then played as the guest band at a September 15th Philly Roller Girls game, which pitted the Heavy Metal Hookers against the Philthy Britches. Following some more East Coast dates, the Low Budgets are headed west. Shows are booked in locales as distant as New Mexico, at which point the Budgets will head back in our direction. Scheduled gigs, as of press time, run up until November 3rd.

Do yourself a favor and check out Leave Us A Loan - available now at your favorite high-valu retailer - so you can shout along with every word when the guys finally do play their next local show.

Or, you know, be too “mature” for it and miss out.