Review Summary: Career defining final release...? Well....
I remember exactly when I first found Mixtapes. I was flipping through a punk magazine and stumbled across a picture that caught my eye. Can’t remember why, don’t even remember the picture. I listened to a song or two, and decided then and there I wasn’t a fan. I wrote the band off and forgot about them indefinitely. Three years later, I saw Mixtapes open for a different band and could then tell there was definitely something different. Maybe it was front man Ryan Rockwell’s sometimes shabby attitude towards the pop punk scene, maybe it was the perfect vocal harmonies, or perhaps it was the honest, straightforward, sometimes witty lyrics put forth. Either way, I fell in love with Mixtapes that night. On my drive home, I played the song ‘I Think I Broke It’ upwards of 50 times and after a bit of time listened to (and learned the words to) every song on ‘Ordinary Silence’ and eventually ‘Even on the Worst Nights’.
Fast forward about a year or so, Mixtapes plays Warped Tour, starts excessive amounts of controversy and announces a hiatus. The whole situation upset me, because I had only had the opportunity to see the band twice live. Then, out of absolutely nowhere they announce this split. My heart skips a beat or two. After thinking, I realized that Mixtapes was the band that would release a random split 6 months after calling it quits. Keep in mind; I have only listened to the Mixtapes side of the split, due to the fact that I was obsessed with the band over the last year and a half. I haven’t even found time to check out the band Jabber.
The first song “Everyday Maybes” is plain and simply classic Mixtapes. Simple riffs, contemplative lyrics and sunny harmonies complete with tempo changes and the occasional ‘whoa’. Immediately I heard that Rockwell’s voice sounds snottier than usual, almost like he isn’t even trying. Being an avid listener of his ‘Big Snackers’ podcast, it has come to my attention that he is “sick of the pop-punk scene and wants to be no part of it”. He has recently released an EP with his Hip-Hop group “Massive Nights” – a band which couldn’t be more opposite to Mixtapes. Don’t get me wrong, he may have been sick the day he had to record vocals. But I have a feeling he was just done with pop-punk entirely. I’m not sure if this knowledge adds anything to the song or just agitates me, but in my opinion the lyrics and instrumentals make up for it. Rockwell sings early on in the song “I’m not sure how I stayed in this game” – and maybe it’s for the best he left the game. As much as I’d love another Mixtapes album, maybe all of this was for the best. This song is the best of the two, extremely emotional as well. That may very well be due to my connection with the band, but in these ears, every word is well written and hard hitting.
Track two titled “It Can’t Get You Everything” is the poppier song of the two. Sung mostly by front woman Maura Weaver, the song doesn’t resonate nearly as deeply as track one. The song is extremely short, and I will say that as the final song released by Mixtapes I was hoping for a career defining song – or at least a solid one. The lyrics however, were quite relatable (“I used to throw fits, now I’ve learned how to reason” being a standout line). I wish I could come up with more to write, but the song is hardly a cog in the arsenal of songs written by the band.
Looking back at the bands 8 releases, I realized that the split definitely is not the best material the band has released. The band seems jaded, and confused – the precise reason they claim to have called it quits. Rockwell can write a damn fantastic punk-rock song, but at the end of the day I’m left wondering if Mixtapes will even matter in 5 years. I can only hope that I won’t be as jaded and upset with the scene as Rockwell in 5 years. I can only hope that Mixtapes reunites and releases more music as a band – I suppose that only time can tell.
