West Friends – Junk Drawer

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There’s something great that happens to your brain when you wrap your ears around a fun, summer pop-punk album. Is it that feeling of endless possibilities as you cruise in your car with the AC on full blast to the beach? Maybe. Is it the burst of nostalgia that reminds of the early Vans Warped Tour routing that we all looked forward to. Could be that too. West Friends have offered a nice reminder of these feelings on their debut album called Junk Drawer. West Friends are the duo of vocalists/songwriters Jordan Renshaw and Isaiah Dominguez, while Jordan shared, “Junk Drawer represents the accumulation of life experiences, eras, and memories that shape who I am today. It’s also how I can best visualize and process growth and maturity—by carrying all these experiences with me, I’m able to integrate them into my current self while also making room for new ones to be added along the way.” By putting out the shimmering vibes as we all begin planning out our vacations, Junk Drawer offers to be the soundtrack to your summer.

”I fit my life in a junk drawer,” are the lyrics as the record opens on a bit of a somber note before exploding into some great pop-punk chords much like Mest, Good Charlotte, and Hellogoodbye, for comparisons. The album’s key single in “You’ll Hate It Here” begins with the sound of seagulls at the beach, while West Friends explore the depths of their crisp pop-punk sound with great results. The album never loses momentum as you navigate from track to track, and “Bad Company” keeps things at an interesting level by breaking up some of the similar tempo of the first two songs, while “It Is What It Is” features a very NFG-esque type of opening riff. It’s so good that I’m sure the fellas in New Found Glory might even be a little bit jealous they didn’t come up with it first.

”Ruminate” is a nice ballad that flows majestically from start to finish, and features a shimmering vocal performance from West Friends. The colors that this band paint with here are deep and vivid, and evoke the right emotions of the season. “You’re Not Hardcore (Unless You Live Hardcore)” gets its title from the charming Jack Black comedy called School Of Rock, while the song does a nice job of getting that A Day To Remember type of vibe, albeit with a bit less gusto in the vocals. “Tell Me It Gets Better” is the current single from Junk Drawer, and it’s easy to see why the indie band chose it for their recent video treatment. It tackles the all-too-important topic of taking care of your mental health, and being a good support system for your friends as well.

”Reticent” keeps things moody with a bass-heavy ballad that finds the vocals bellowing over well-played guitar riffs. “Yung N Restless” is the band’s attempt at making a hair metal song that meets at the middle with their pop-punk polish, and guess what? It kinda works! “Winterlude” sets the scene with an atmospheric track that eventually bleeds into the closer of “Hell Of A Year” that signals that the band has taken us to the finish line with grace and poise. Junk Drawer gets its strength from not trying to be anything that the band isn’t already influenced by, and West Friends seem grateful for the opportunity to be a small part of your summer soundtrack. And for now, that’s plenty to be happy about.

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