Went ahead and listened to the leak. This feels like the record ISWSOF would have been if it was a little more well baked and less of an overcorrection from the “easycore” sound they had going on Enemy. Very little here feels as hastily thrown together and there are definitely a few parts where they aren’t afraid to go both feet in on stuff they haven’t tried before (the intro of “It’s Cool”, the subdued chorus of “Seventeen”, their first genuine ballad of “Be Good...”). Unfortunately, this band excels when delivering great hooks and there’s almost none of that on here imo — Learn To Love The Lie is the winner there with nearly zero contest. Beyond all that though, still pretty comfortable concluding that their general energy just isn’t really my thing anymore anyway. Was thinking there’d be a chance for this to enter the “outlier” territory that some records in this scene still reach for me, but I don’t think that’s gonna be the case here.
Crazy Pills is like a nice mixing bowl of previous material. the opening riff feels straight off ISWSOF, but with a very pop punk chorus that to me feels as close to ROTD/EOTW as they've been in a while, and even the acoustic flourishes in the second verse with their flex of acoustic material over the last few years. think its quickly shot up as my fav of all on the record
Digging this. Will be great for running and the gym. They seem dialed in through out this entire album too. The closer is amazing too. I actually dig that direction.
Just listened this morning and this is where I’m at. Lots of interesting things they’re doing here, and is probably the closest extension of the riffing that reared it’s head on GDIH (EP). Even so, the hooks are just not quite there, and not a fan of the lyrics. Will listen at the gym solely, but primarily going to listen to Soccer Mommy all day instead. A lot of this record seems to build upon what they were going for on The Sound of Your Heart, which was far and way the best song on the s/t. GDIH - EOTW > RODT > BP > s/t > ISWSOF
Specifically why I listened to the leak haha. I’m not perfect Re: streaming PN releases, but this is for sure a case where the band is as implicated as the label.
Yeah this is a pleasent surprise for sure The singles are definitely the standouts but Crazy Pills, Seventeen, Worst Part of Me all stood out as well Didn't really like the opener or closer but I think this is definitely ahead of the last record
The leak version actually sounds really good haha. If you're into the music and want to listen but don't wanna support financially...I def recommend just downloading the leak. That said...the guitar nerd in me really likes a lot of the heavy guitar tones on the album. After a few listens, song for song, i'd say this is their most consistent album since EOTW. The thing is that the high points from previous albums are still way better and have better hooks than anything on this new one.
the riffs on this thing are outta this world, glad they took their time here to use their (admittedly limited) skillset in a fun and creative way.
Huge smile at that outro on It's Cool they go ALL IN on different sounds on this thing. Huge improvement
This might be my favorite album by them. Also, just saw the music video for Talking Myself in Circles, super fun.