Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025) • Page 23

I would struggle to give either such compliment to the drums.

Every last space is filled with some form of his typical rapid fire drum fill, more than any other instrument, and pretty much every song has the phaser effect that he is (in)famous for. Especially on the first 3 or 4 songs. It sounds as much the Travis show as the rest of the band, certainly more focus on the drums than Sean's role.

 

I think this is my main misgiving with this album after 10 or so listens. The songs are so great, but because of Travis, there's not that breathing room that I really loved about the last few records pre-breakup. When I wrote about Lift a Sail, I noted that not having their longtime pop-punk drummer really allowed them to stretch into some fresh sonic territory. I know not everyone loves that record anywhere as much as I do, but I wish there was just a little more of that expansiveness here.

 

I do really like this record and am very stoked to see a new YC album and to see them seemingly hitting a huge second wind in their band career. That said, I do have 2 complaints about the album: 1) It does feel like the Travis Show a lot of the time. Hes obviously an insane drummer, but his sound is so tied to Blink that it just feels like hes taking over a lot of the times.
2) Maybe a bigger complaint is I wish more songs had a more prominent violin part. Outside of Honestly, I, theres like very little violin in any of these songs. It basically just pops in during the bridges of most of the songs.

Anyways, Ive listened to the piss out of this album and really love it. Barely Alive is right up there as one of my favorite epic album-closers theyve done (I know its not the last song, but close enough).