Review Summary: Despite the title, it's hard to feel anything but happiness during the course of this record.
As It Is peddles the sort of pop punk that can only be described as “feel good” music. The English outfit proclaims with every sunny melody that this album is geared towards being your summertime collection of anthems. Sure, some of the lyrics exhibit that melancholy emo influence that’s crept into pop punk of past years, but the music counteracts it mightily between the punk tempos and soaring choruses.
Never Happy, Ever After is never going to be groundbreaking, never going to be considered revolutionary, but these hooks will ingrain themselves in your mind pretty damn quickly. The band fails to surprise, but they succeed in offering a good time and sing-alongs aplenty.
As It Is are pretty vocally driven, in the same vein as pop punk heavy weights New Found Glory. Both bands thrive on delivering an oddly lovable nasal whine over the bouncy chord progression. As It Is arguably houses the more technically gifted vocalist, and keeps things just a bit more interesting by utilizing backing vocals often. The dualing voices found on many a verse, at the very least, add variety. The band is definitely at their best when the energy levels peak, especially on cuts like “Dial Tones” and “Cheap Shots and Setbacks”. The melodies in the former, and the muted lick found in the chorus of “Concrete” especially succeed in taking the songs to the next level.
Never Happy, Ever After runs at a concise 36 minutes, not necessarily in dire need of variety, but As It Is drop a couple of mellow tracks in among the faster fare. While these songs work well and keep the album from being totally one note, the comparably sparse sound draws a bit too much attention to the potentially irritating vocals. Luckily they prove to be a far cry from failure and the album is fairly thin on filler across the board.
As It Is are in need of finding a unique voice to their sound, but their debut works well enough at just being a predictably enjoyable pop punk album. The vocals could be a turn off for some, but the sheer magnitude of these hooks will bring back many more. As It Is can rest happily knowing that their first outing is anything but a failure.
