Easycore is still alive! Four Year Strong is back (not that they ever left) and they're bringing us their self-titled album. Let's dive into their new release and see what's new that they're bringing to the game.
Abandoned By Bears is an easycore band from Sweden that combines the heaviest breakdowns with a classy touch of pop-punk!
At first listen, City Lights' new release “The Way Things Should Be” sounds reminiscent of bands like Yellowcard and Anberlin. With their pop-punk vocals and their speeding drum beats, City Lights' fits into the group of bands these days putting a spin on traditional pop punk with hardcore breakdowns and airy guitar leads. “The Way Things Should Be” shows that City Lights is sticking to a well known sound, and creating a very good one at that.
In Her Own Words have premiered a new song from their upcoming EP, Everything I Used To Trust, coming out July 11th. The band will start touring around the U.S. on July 17th. The song, which features guest vocals from Sulla Strada vocalist Danny, can be heard below.
Abandoned By Bears new EP release “Bear-Sides” ranks itself among the styles of bands like Chunk! No, Captain Chunk and A Day To Remember.
With their catchy pop-punk choruses and metalcore breakdowns they have proven themselves to adequately mimic the sounds of an all too familiar pop-punk/easycore band. Any fans of Chunk or ADTR will enjoy the easygoing feel that the band radiates with songs like “We Can Break Loose” and “You Need To Stick Up!”, but lose an important sense of originality.
Although the band has a very similar sound to other bands of the genre, they break apart from the group slightly with their heavy use of synthesizer that can be heard in every song. This instrument gives a solid reinforcement and a creative touch to the otherwise generic sound of the EP. Overall, the instrumentation of the EP doesn’t prove to set itself that far apart from bands of the same field; the guitar riffs and chords are some that can be found in almost every other pop-punk band out there, and the drums don’t prove themselves to do any more than follow the minimum synchronizing.
Even without a separating element, the band can still find a place for pop-punk/easycore fans. Listeners of the genre will be content with the upbeat and major sounds of the catchy melody lines and unsurprising breakdowns. The release of this 4-song EP (one song being “INTRO”, a 38 second instrumental) gives a good look into the band’s consistent sound. Fans of the genre should definitely check it out if they are looking for the familiar sound of clean singing melodies and basic breakdowns.
Rating: 6.5/10
- Nic
With the release of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!’s second album “Pardon My French”, fans can expect to hear the beloved pop-punk/hardcore band at its best.
The opening track “Restart” immediately brings listeners into the style of pop sung melodies followed by the rivaled heaviness of the sound that the band has come to master. This band has really proven that pop-punk and metalcore can be fluidly mixed at a happy medium, and in a more original way than most bands. The album reeks of an aura that can be compared to “Homesick” (A Day To Remember’s most popular album) only with a more creative spin to it. Songs like “Taking Chances” and “Between Your Lines” are perfect representations of the band and especially of this album.
Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! takes the all too familiar sound of pop vocals with hardcore breakdowns to a more personal level on this album. The album’s eighth track “I Am Nothing Like You” gives an insight to the heavy side of the band. The song was not as intrusive as “Mr. Highway is Thinking About The End” was on A Day To Remember’s album “Homesick”, but it still has an impact that excites the listener for the rest of the album. The band also represents its versatility in the pop-punk genre with their song “So Close and Yet So Far”. This song shows a slightly softer side of the band that can be compared to a more intense and modern version of “I Miss You” by Blink-182.
Although the songs themselves are very good, this album does have its downfalls as a whole. The band created its pop-punk/hardcore sound from its first album “Something for Nothing” and the new release seems to follow too closely in its footsteps. Even though a definite progression can be heard overall, it seems the band played it safe with this album. They stayed close to the pop structured songs, catchy melodies, and punk verses that can be heard on almost every single song on both of their albums.
In the end, this album is a very good representation of the band but doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Considering that this is only the band’s sophomore album, not much else can be expected. Many bands will stick to what has worked in the past when it comes to releasing new material. For fans of the band, this album will be highly praised as it only reinforces the Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!’s definitive style. But for listeners that may not have liked the band’s first album, there really isn’t anything new to hear. It is more of a continuation of the pop-punk/hardcore style than a new revolutionary take on the well known genre.
Rating 7.5/10
