For me this is just a lesser version of the debut which leaves me little to no reason to revisit it when I could just listen to what is pretty much just a superior version. Not inherently bad but also not the growth I hoped to hear. Fingers crossed that the next one changes it up.
I don’t really hear this album as a lesser retread. I think they tried a fair amount of stuff, some landed and some felt a little half-baked. Nothing’s Wrong, You Never Knew, and Walking Away are all great off the top of my head
I remember that Hyden really nailed my problem with this album: "The nagging feeling that early singles like “Right Now” and “Want You Back” were trying extra hard and still not cutting it pervades the album, which is loaded with choruses that don’t stick and yet are endlessly repeated like dull, uninspired campaign slogans."
I think one of the big mistakes they made was releasing that PTA live version of "Right Now" and not putting it on the album because that's so much better than the album version.
one of my favorite things about them is that they're the type of band to unironically cover the Dawson's Creek theme
This is really nice! I expected it to be a big pop song based on title alone but it’s really subdued. My favorite thing from them since the debut.