Review Summary: I lost my way but I found myself.
Old Chunk! No Captain Chunk! is a huge guilty pleasure for me. Something For Nothing has some pretty questionable writing ("Milf" is a pretty big example, found in the reissue) and all the clean vocals sections sound bratty and not the best with everyone yelling or shouting in the background. The screaming comes across as mediocre, and goodness there's a lot of it. The music itself was pretty solid with some nice riffs and a cool play on hardcore melodic pop-punk, but needed much improvement. Pardon My French improved in a lot of different ways. The cleans sounded better, and the screaming wasn't the main focus for most of the songs and it showed a glimpse of what Chunk! No Captain Chunk! can do very well.
A couple years later "Playing Dead" was released and it sounds like it shocked a lot of people, myself included. It was a nice mix of easycore while maintaining that hard edge they have kept in their music all along. Strong vocals with literally the odd scream thrown in to keep it trucking at a fast paced speed. A truly great song showcasing what this band can do best, and hopefully everyone was excited like me for the release of this album.
Get Lost, Find Yourself has lots of meaning I feel behind the title. It shows that if you're going through a hard time maybe you need to well, get lost and find what makes you happy. It also works with this band doing that very same thing to write and make some pretty amazing songs. With great lyrics geared towards enjoying every moment (closing track, "Every Moment"), and also talking about more sadder times in life (a crumbling relationship, "The Other Line"). Not all lyrics are great material, including the song "What Goes Around":
"What goes around, comes around
And what goes up must come down"
But the song is instantly saved with the rest of the chorus:
"I know that every beginning has to come to an end
Let's make the most of the time we spent
What goes around, comes around
Let's make it count"
It's a shame that those first couple of lines are in the chorus of that song cause that's really my only problem with the album.
The album has an energy that feels more focused then anything the band has released prior. Focusing more on having fun with their music which makes for great head banging with pals or just enjoying some really great music on long road trips. It's nice to see a combination of different styles of music thrown in the album as well. It truly is an outstanding album. "Set It Straight" is the most pop-punk material they have released, and has a pretty solid breakdown, and is my personal favourite from the album. They also go for a more radio friendly song with "Worst Case Scenario", albeit maybe a few to many woah's, but it's still a fun listen. It's also great to see a straight up acoustic song with the title track, "Get Lost, Find Yourself".
They may have started out as a pretty mediocre band (not to me personally), but Chunk! No Captain Chunk! seem to have found their way, releasing a pretty much perfect album release. If you're looking for a great hard edged pop-punk album, give this one a spin, you won't regret it.
Best Songs:
Set It Straight
Worst case Scenario
The Other Line
