Review Summary: hooks for days, promotion for shit
There’s a small chance you’re a pop punk fan. There’s an even smaller chance your preferred flavour of pop punk is mid-2010s State Champs/Neck Deep/Knuckle Puck-core. There’s an even smallerer chance you [are either/both of these things and] know about the existence of
Armageddon. And that’s a shame.
The brand new album by Between You & Me is a concise collection of razor-sharp hooks and big choruses, culminating in one of the most unapologetically
fun pop punk projects of the year. It’s not exactly reinventing the wheel or bound to blow listeners’ minds with its intricate lyricism, but the brevity of each track affords little time to worry about such issues. Cruising from memorable moment to memorable moment,
Armageddon thrives off its sheer likeability; ‘Deadbeat’ and ‘Pleased to Meet You’ burst with energy while ‘Real World’ adds some quirky touches without losing sight of the record’s carefree, summery vibes. While single ‘Butterflies’ ups the cheese factor to the max, it winds up being an alluring highlight due to its incredibly infectious chorus. Throughout the album, the Aussies appear to be teaching a masterclass in indulging in genre tropes without evoking a bland or pandering feeling; somehow, even the mildly unnecessary ‘woah-oah’s in ‘Change’ actually add a pleasantly warm touch to the song.
Yet, not everyone likes this exact type of fun, and that’s okay. Well, you know, unless you’re the band’s record label: unsurprisingly, Hopeless has done a piss poor job of promoting
Armageddon. It’s a shame, because, as back-handed of a compliment as it may be, Between You & Me have crafted a mostly enjoyable record in a mostly unenjoyable genre of music, and that’s something to be celebrated. Give it a spin, bask in its many catchy numbers, get some pizza
with extra cheese, you get the idea. Just don’t be like Hopeless.
