Review Summary: ...and he's back!
It’s hard to believe we’ve gone a year without Yellowcard. The one mistake the band ever made was reaching the glass ceiling. Through the years, Yellowcard would grab brass rings as they made their way to pop-punk legend status. Album after album, critics adored the act as their mature and innovative spin on the genre captivated audiences worldwide. National tours, energetic concerts, and passionate performances made them *real* to fans. They were infectious to say the least. Every time they reached the glass ceiling, they stopped. It annoyed me to see Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and countless other bands surpass them. Yellowcard did everything better than those bands, but they never went up. They stayed in the exact same place they were in since 2004. They never peaked or hit rock bottom, they simply remained. The sad part is they became famous just for existing. That’s when Yellowcard hung it up. It was bittersweet to see them pour their hearts out on their farewell tour. They headlined a Warped Tour, had a massive homecoming in Ocean Avenue, and said their last goodbye in Californ-i-a.
Then, on a scorching Friday evening, William Ryan Key releases
Thirteen. An EP defined not by bold moves or pretentious attitude, but by being
exactly what it needed to be. The album has a warm acoustic vibe one would expect. Its production is simple with a few layers here and there.
Thirteen is an open album that shares ballads about Ryan Key’s life experiences. We see a mature side of Key as he sings of love, loss, and what could have been. “Left everyone I love in the smoke while I got lost becoming a liar/Now I’m upstream, I’m getting tired,” sings ‘Old Friends.’ It’s heartbreaking to see our hero tired and defeated in the albums opening track. The weeping guitar chimes throughout the song as ‘Old Friends’ climaxes with, “I’m sitting on a mountain of guilt that I finally started chipping away.”
The aged perspective
Thirteen takes is such an interesting choice from a singer who maintained youthful optimism. It only shows how evolved Key has become since
Yellowcard released a few years ago.
Thirteen borrows from that release in emphasizing its indie/folk roots. I get a strong Elliott Smith vibe in this outing, which is an observation shared [SowingSeason]. “Someone’s always haunting the house…” enters ‘Form and Figure’ with a chugging rhythm reminiscent of ‘Needle in the Hay.’ ‘Form and Figure’ relies more on imagery than previous tracks. “I can feel the weight on the bed beside me,” and, “I stay in a sleepless state,” paint such a lonely atmosphere. The writing is so meticulous and intrapersonal in
Thirteen. Comparing it to Elliott Smith’s work only adds value to an EP of this magnitude.
There are few if any flaws in
Thirteen that I could point out. It may not be a bold album, but does it really need to be？
Thirteen more than accomplishes its goal of being a first step in a new direction. It’s simple, well-spoken, and mature than it has any right to be. The EP only proves how much more there is to Ryan Key than we’ve seen before. I’d highly recommend this album to fans of Manchester Orchestra or pop-punk in general. Acoustic pop-punk has been a trend for a while now, but few artist ever come close to capturing any nuance. Acoustic puts stress on a vocalists’ natural talent. There’s no production to hide behind. Some say “You never know what you have until it’s gone,” or, “Truth is, you knew what you had, you just never thought you’d lose it.” But with
Thirteen, I don’t think we ever will.
Standout Tracks
Everything.
