Review Summary: It's time to "Restart" the life of a fallen captain.
Where do we start with a pop punk band that blended heavy elements into a sound that was at first a good idea. Chunk No Captain Chunk was a band that came from France and released "Something For Nothing" and after touring for a few years they finally tried presenting the world with a new sound that would "Literally bring something new to music". Well, release date comes along and with a few singles that showcased what this band has planned for us, here we are.
Pardon My French starts of with leading single Restart, which is essentially Bert singing about how the band was here to change the world and make it right. The lyrical content in this song isn't the greatest but it's better than what they gave us with "In Friends We Trust". The instrumentation however has evolved, the band scrapped the synth and the repeated Chugging(which is used quite sarcastically) to back Bert's voice. The growls showed some improvement, however the clean singing throughout the album is what really shines. The debut attempt of this band brought forth many terribly auto-tuned, accent infested and whiny vocals that only went along with the terribly planned instruments, however in the sophomore album Bert sounds more american and if anything, is the one thing this band needs to utilize more.
The drumming is pretty crisp, with some punk beats that are to be expected in a pop punk band, the drummer does however throw a few kick sections that go with the heaviness the guitars are trying to bring. The first half of the album shows very well rounded instruments, with very few breakdowns and laying out some solid instrumentation. After title track "Pardon My French" the album slightly falls from grace, each song sounding very rushed, with the lyrics once again dropping into mediocrity, and backed by nearly identical guitar from the first album. The bass is actually noticeable in some sections, and while it isn't the best or most outstanding thing, the bassist of this band can balance rhythm much better than the guitarists.
The guitars however, are where this album starts to lose the hype that most people actually had for it. In Taking Chances, the guitar blended with the message of the song which was quite possibly the biggest highlight for this album. The guitar gave the emotion the band probably tried to carry through the song, and the production and tuning of them blends perfectly with each other, making the over all quality of the song actually work quite well with what the band intended. The latter half of the album however, with the exception of "Between Your Lines" the guitar hinders what could have been a 4.5 or so album, with the same repeated chords and riffs that lack any emotion.
The lyrics are the real star of the show in this case. Coming from "Hey dudes are you ready too understand why some friends are true" to gems such as "Don't you have anything to stand for, so how can you just wait?", while generic to say the least, the band actually wrote meaningful lyrics that I along with many other people might be able to relate to, and the power in Bert's voice in the lyrics actually makes the point come across quite strong.
While not a perfect album, the band did promise a new direction that fans would love, and as a fan of the band I was quite pleased with what they put out. A few things such as chunky guitars and emotionless riffs could have been changed up a bit to actually bring a great overall album, Bert and friends showed they have some promise, and maybe in the future could perfect the sound that they were intending.
