Review Summary: Skip this party.
After a strong debut that balanced heavy with melody quite well, ISS had two choices, at least from my point of view: they could continue playing what they were good at, or they could switch it up, and revitalize their sound. While sometimes this renewal works quite well, sometimes it fails epically, and it almost seems fans would've been happier with what the band did so well the album beforehand. Such is the case with
The End Of The World Party, a poppy, inferior record next to its brother
3D.
Honestly, the album art is a fantastic indication of whats to come, because ISS are toned down this time around. On their first outing, they weren't Impending Doom-heavy, but a few tracks at least had some metalcore chops. Those really aren't present here, and though screamer/progammer Zach Johnson's screams are present, they are restrained and even somewhat muted, probably by studio effects (check the breakdown in the pop/punk number "Over It"). As for his programming skills, they don't fare well combined with the extraneous and wholly unnessecary usage of autotune, since singer Devin Oliver displayed some natural talent on the first record, and doesn't really need that editing. Remember the guitar chemistry that wasn't overly technical but was at least sufficient and a little impressive on
3D? Yeah, that's gone. While lead guitarist Brent Allen still shows off a little, rhythm guitarist Jimmy Gregerson may as well have been forgotten, playing the same power chords throughout most of the record. Yes, he used power chords before, but was at least able to use them creatively. In addition, Jimmy sounds like he's ripping off ADTR with a couple of the breakdowns, especially the one in "Over It". Drums and bass are totally forgotten.
There really aren't any standouts, because nothing about this record made me want to buy it. There's a catchy chorus here and there, but it's not enough to make the tracks themselves good. There's no tracks like "3D", "Project Wakeup", or "The Common Hours", but instead plenty of Owl City/the newest "trendy" band rip-offs. Lyrically, it's even worse. The album consists of lovey-dovey generic crap and Top 40 party song material. Again, the first album wasn't brilliant
lyrically, but it was so much better than this.
This was a rather disappointing follow-up to the first record, in all honesty. The band took everything they had going for them and burned it away, resulting in a hollow shell of an album that is overfilled on sugary-sweetness but ultimately lasts substance. Skip this
End Of The World Party
