If there was a pop-punk-related list to be ticked off, August is Falling check all of the boxes on their long-awaited debut EP. Few bands in recent memory have been able to generate the buzz that August is Falling have without having ever released studio material. Hell, questions were starting to get asked as to… Read More August is Falling – the simple plan EP (Review)
The Baltimore band return from hiatus with hands up and arms out, and I return from my own hiatus to write about it. I should start here by saying that this music blog wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Have Mercy. Let’s cast our minds back. It’s 2013, and I’m taking a gap year between… Read More Have Mercy – Self-Titled (EP Review)
The Used dropped a new single this week, titled Over and Over Again, and some people aren’t feeling it. The single, taken from the bands upcoming seventh LP The Canyon is decidedly pop, and this pop sound continues to divide fans of the band. I’m not sure why, because The Used have been a band leaning… Read More Record of the Day #8 – The Used, Lies For The Liars
California natives Meet Me In Montauk didn’t do a whole lot wrong on their 2015 debut Where The Grass Meets The Pavement, a late and triumphant charge in the ongoing ’emo revival’ saga. A mix of angst, emotion, melody and intricate guitar work, the record rarely missed a beat, and since discovering it recently I’ve… Read More Meet Me In Montauk – Dork Soul (Review)
As was the case last year, Four Year Strong have new music out for the Summer, and I’ve come to find that there’s rarely a better time to listen to the Massachusetts four piece. 2014’s Go Down In History was an EP well catered for the season, and its following self-titled release picks up where… Read More Four Year Strong – Four Year Strong (Self-Titled) [Review]
It’s hard to believe that Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing is Real Friends’ debut record. Over the last few years they’ve become one of the most popular young bands in pop-punk, and listening to their debut it’s easy enough to see why, but it’s also clear that they still have… Read More Real Friends – Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing (Review)
Outbound were the first band to ever contact me in regards to a review, so I guess this is relatively long overdue. The band hail from Massachusetts, and the play a passionate mix of pop-punk and rock, with a few indie elements thrown in for good measure, and they generally play it pretty damn well. I liked… Read More Outbound – Suite 10 (Review)
When Candy Hearts released EP The Best Ways To Disappear back in 2012 it seemed like they were on the verge of becoming the genres next ‘big’ band, and over the past two years they’ve generally kept that notion alive. When the band released I Miss You, the lead single from their newest record a few… Read More Candy Hearts – All The Ways You Let Me Down (Review)
Transient is an EP born out of frustration with the world surrounding the musicians that created it, and vocalist Dorian Cooke said that the EP was given this name because every time the band tried to find structure and comfort in one location of their lives it transcended to a feeling of discontent and longing… Read More Battleghost – Transient (Review)
There’s a brilliant stereotype to pop-punk that exists in 90% of releases from the genre. You get similar themes, with a similar sound, with the same bummed out dude on vocals. Not that any of that’s a bad thing of course, and when you go into a record that openly labels itself pop-punk chances are… Read More Northbound – Death Of A Slug (Review)
I don’t think there’s been a pop-punk album in my library that’s been played more than Gospel since its release back in 2011. That record seemed to capture everything I love about the genre and display it brilliantly, making for a catchy and relatable good-time all round. Fireworks’ third album Oh, Common Life is slightly… Read More Fireworks – Oh, Common Life (Review)
Thief Club is the side project of Hit The Lights frontman Nick Thompson and initially it seems like an odd venture considering his success with his main project. My Heavy seems more like a throwback and a tribute than a forward thinking modern release because it reminds me of the music I listened to when… Read More Thief Club – My Heavy (Review)
“Every song has been written already. We know this. We’re just trying to be honest and give everyone our version of what we want to be passed down… what we want to stand the test of time. More than just three simple chords love or hate songs that have been done a thousand times over.”… Read More Traditions – Cycles (Review)
Decade have built a solid name for themselves over the last 12 months, so it seems fitting to release an album good enough to set them up for another big year. Good Luck is the first British album this year to deliver on the hype surrounded it, discounting Wishful Thinking by Neck Deep, which seemed… Read More Decade – Good Luck (Review)
It’s fair to say that Neck Deep’s rise to pop-punk stardom was pretty meteoric, releasing two EP’s that were well received and then signing to Hopeless Records (home of Yellowcard and The Wonder Years) solely on the back of those two releases. Debut album Wishful Thinking comes around 15 months after their debut EP Rain… Read More Neck Deep – Wishful Thinking (Review)
Simple Plan were one of the first alternative bands I ever listened to, and no matter how much they’ve changed since I first heard ‘No Pads…’ their music will still ultimately mean something to me. Sure, they’re getting older and becoming much harder to take seriously as a result of their style not always changing… Read More Simple Plan – Get Your Heart On: The Second Coming (Review)
There’ve been a lot of good pop-punk albums to see daylight in 2013, and now you can add Seaway’s debut album to that list. It isn’t on a a level with say ‘The Greatest Generation’ or ‘The Finer Things’ but by no means is a bad album, and for a debut it’s full of promise… Read More Seaway – Hoser (Review)
Mayday Parade were one of those bands who emerged in the late 00’s with ‘A Lesson In Romantics’, a few years after bands like Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy really broke through and set the bar for upbeat pop-punk with long song names. Sadly Mayday Parade’s second album was definitely a sophomore… Read More Mayday Parade – Monsters In The Closet (Review)
These days I’m finding it harder and harder to truly appreciate pop-punk as a genre. More and more often the music seems to be taking a backseat to the clichés it provokes. Fortunately, ‘The Finer Things’ by State Champs is all about the music and it was always going to take an album as brilliant… Read More State Champs – The Finer Things (Review)
Knuckle Puck started making a name for themselves with their last EP ‘Don’t Come Home’; four excellent pop punk tracks played in the same vein as already established bands like Real Friends. Latest EP ‘The Weight That You Buried’ should see the band overtaking their neighbours in fantastic fashion. Opener ‘Everything Must Go’ is fast… Read More Knuckle Puck – The Weight That You Buried (Review)
Craig Reviews Music 