Wednesday November 23, 2011

Written by Frances Roach

Decaydance Records/Universal Motown

Many people had already made their minds up about this record before it was even released, or were hesitant at the least. With a departure (and lack of replacement) of keyboardist Josh Lyford, the Massachusetts pop punk band had the task of creating album #4 to the standards expected from their long term followers, Four Year Strong who will be wanting to progress to a wider array of listeners, have produced a rather good selection of songs. Not astounding from a typical pop punk album by any means, but still pretty impressive.

Blasting straight into ‘The Infected’ with enough punch for an undecided listener to continue on, it is evident that the now four piece are still true to their well crafted sound. New single ‘Stuck In The Middle’ is one of the stand out tracks, along with ‘Falling on You’, both of which have received their fair share of streaming across various sites and social networks over recent months as well as the band playing them at shows earlier in the year.

The raspy vocal interchanges between beautifully bearded frontmen Alan Day and Dan O’Connor always brings an additional value to the rhythmic set of guitars and solid drumming, most apparent in tracks ‘Unbreakable’, ‘The Security Of The Familiar, The Tranquility of Repetition’ and ‘Fight The Future’. A response to those who are doubting their efforts? Just take a listen to ‘Fairweather Fan’, where they shout out “You’re becoming what I hated, close-minded and jaded about what isn’t yours”, whilst also giving a shout out to their previous album, Rise Or Die Trying.

The disappointment of the list is ‘Just Drive’, which almost sounds like a filler track- mediocre verses with a chorus only slightly better.  However, recovering from this with final track ‘Only The Meek Get Pinched, the Bold Survive’ shows the bands softer side, creating a softer melodic piece with an anthemic chorus that is most likely to be sang back to them at their future shows

Overall, a great addition to the Four Year Strong music stream of powerful pop punk.

3/5

Download: Falling On You, The Infected, Fairweather Fan

fouryearstrongmusic.com