Review Summary: An impressive debut with some minor flaws but they still manage to sound better than most pop-punk bands today.
Pop-punk has always been a hit or miss for me. There's tons of bands that I love and a lot that I don't care for. Pop punk has been used to describe bands like blink-182, All Time Low, The Loved Ones, Set Your Goals who all lean either towards the punk or pop side of things while the Oregon trio, Broadway Calls whose self/titled debut album really sits in the middle of the two genres.
Their songs are super catchy and have a poppy sound that resembles older blink-182 or Saves The Day mixed with some hardcore influence from bands like Lifetime. There's just something about seperates Broadway Calls that makes them stand out from all of the other pop punk bands that are featured on MTV, Fuse or MTVU (wherever channel they actually show music videos nowadays). They sound just a bit more humble, honest and down to earth than most bands you see out there today.
This album is full of fun anthems like "Call It Off," "Back To Oregon," and "Suffer The Kids." The first ten tracks or so are pure gold as far as pop-punk is concerned. They're just great, fun tracks to sing along too. The lyrics on some tracks have a serious message behind them like "Suffer The Kids" telling how the current generation of kids have to deal with the flaws of the past and dealing with how harsh reality is on "Van Rides and High Tides." The band also makes great use of gang vocals on "Escape From Capitol Hill," "Call It Off" and the powerful "Save Our Ship." The latter starts off as a slow acoustic ballad but turns very powerful once the full band kicks in near the middle of the song.
That song is also the turning point of the album. After it comes an interesting cover of The Smiths' "A Rush and A Push and The Land Is Ours." It's a very bold cover that is done well but is very different from the original version and will probably see a lot of mixed reactions. "Life Is In The Air" is a somber track but still somewhat catchy. The other acoustic number is "Meet Me At Washington Park" which clocks in at less than 90 seconds and leads into "So Long My Friend" which uses a horn section that may come as a surprise listeners as the album comes to a close.
This album is very impressive for a debut album, especially for a band so young. They already have a decent fanbase in the underground but we'll just have to see how well they will fare in the mainstream. Ty Vaughn's vocals do come across as whiney on some parts and might turn off some audiences, but it didn't get in the way of me enjoying this album. The first half of this album has a lot of radio friendly tracks, and those are the best tracks on the album. The latter tracks where they get more experimental are hit or miss for the most part. Needless to say, Broadway Calls has a bright future ahead of them.
Favorite Tracks: Suffer The Kids, Back To Oregon, Call It Off, Life Is In The Air, Bad Intentions.
