This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply. You can stream the new Hit the Lights acoustic EP, Just to Get Through to You, below. Expand - View Original
The acoustic rendition of Save Your Breath is probably my favorite track off of this EP along with the new song Lighthouse. Really good release, they've always been one of my favorite pop punk bands out there. Also, check out Nick's solo project Thief Club, man can write some solid hooks.
Thief Club was excellent and now this, so much good stuff from Nick, what a great way to start the summer!
Solid song selection for the EP. Nick just has one of those voices that works in pretty much every context so having a whole set of new acoustic jams from Hit The Lights is definitely a great thing. Now here's hoping that we don't have to wait another extended period of more than two years for another new album.
Everything by HTL and Thief Club just sounds so derivative. It sounds more like a parody of pop punk than the real thing.
I talked to Nick on the Thief Club page and he said in the next few months they're gonna start writing for a new HTL album. Psh, HTL is one of the few pop punk bands currently active in the scene that have actual HOOKS.
Maybe they're there, but they're not very good. Not to mention their lyrics are embarrassingly juvenile and the production on that last album hurt my ears.
While I enjoy the new acoustic songs, it's not my favorite thing of theirs. This is just an appetizer until the next record and am totally fine with it. Thief Club, as mentioned earlier is really good. Every HTL fan should go support that project. Very excited to hear where HTL goes next with their albums. Summer Bones was a lot of fun. I thought they mixed in some heavier/riffy sounds that I enjoyed. I feel Nick is one of the few pop punk writers still out there can really write a great hook. His pop sensibility coupled with a heavier background is very unique. I would expect them to continue in that heavy punk meets pop direction if I had to guess.
Talking about Summer Bones? I thought it sounds great, especially on my studio headphones; same with playing loud in my car
Yeah, it's unbearably muddy to my ears. It really held me back from listening to it more in case anything might have grown on me.
Exactly. I can't tell if they're an average band with one good album (Invicta) or a consistently good band (as far as pop punk goes, which means lazy and generic) with one weird release.
HTL did Summer Bones with Kyle Black, who is a really good producer/mixer. He was an understudy to someone pretty renowned in the industry. He has a pretty impressive resume: Discography I would imagine some of the mud/rawness was intentional since the musical direction was more punk, hardcore, and metal influenced. The vocals on the other hand were meant to be very pop driven with an emphasis on the hooks. So there are probably quite a few layers and whatnot to get a current pop feel on them. I think Comeback Kid's Die Knowing is good example of what HTL was going for in terms of how they wanted the instruments to sound on their record.
That's totally fine man. Different strokes! I just wanted to post a link on the producer because it wasn't like they went to some guy on the street, ya know? They went to someone who has worked with some pretty big names. I want to say looking at his discog that he was a Mike Green understudy. Could be wrong. The ATL and Valencia credits tell me that's the case haha.
I love the sound on Summer Bones. Some of their best songs on that album too IMO. Just finished listening through this acoustic EP, everything sounds great.
Looks like Black mixed New Found Glory's Resurrection too, which is also a terrible sounding record in a similar way to Summer Bones. that makes sense
So, it pretty much looks like everything he's done more than engineer on (which, to be honest, is a term I'm not really sure of the full meaning of) is something I don't like the sound of.