Did you ever listen to a genre as happy as ska punk? It's fast, it's upbeat, it has that signature off beat chord and it's mostly so damn fun too. I liken it to a party. It simply makes you want to dance around mindlessly whilst you let the pace and the energy consume you like a black hole disguised as the sun. However, the human body has its limits and it will tire and become exhausted after so much. At this point, you want nothing more than to turn off the fun and take a breather, but instead the fun just never ends and keeps harassing you until you've had enough and leave the party. Other people remain in a trance, hypnotised by this enthralling style of music, but your decision remains unchanged and you decide to walk away from the now faint noises that disappear into the night.
This Is Unity Music, ladies and gentlemen, an album that plays similarly to a party.
There's a sense of overwhelming joy on this album and this is exemplified from the GO with the opening notes of '"Firewall". It starts off perfectly with the right amount of energy, showed in the gang vocals chanting 'Fire!', a damn catchy chorus and some incredibly tight guitar work. The track showcases a nice and fitting balance throughout, where no part over stays its welcome and sheds some interesting surprises such as the dissonant harmonies that bring the track to life and give it its own rebellious personality. The feel is equalled with "Small Pebbles", which is a hard hitting track that loses itself in its own smooth grooves. The vocals sound free, whilst the instrumentation flows with ease as bass lines dance and flutter all over the track that is sure to get anyone up and moving. Sadly, this kind of electric personality is quite scarce on the rest of the album.
For an album that boasts its plethora of character and personality, the end result is disappointingly the opposite. Too many tracks seem stale and dry without really going anywhere. The energy that is so profound on the opening track and "Small Pebbles" disparate and become bland and tedious, which is shown on tracks like "This Won't Take Away" and "One Ton". Then there are tracks, such as "Longshot" and "Cool This Madness Down" that has somehow lost itself and oozes an upbeat tone that's too cheerful for its own good. It's this kind of optimism that is the inevitable downfall of this album. Almost every track on the latter half of the album loses its steam and the fun the first half had, spewing out ideas and melodies that were doomed to fail from the start. That is the problem with sharing your greatest assets at the beginning however, and it hinders the overall experience of the album.
Parties start off so well. They're lively, full of energy and provide so much enthusiasm for what's to come. This album does exactly that, but instead of living up to its potential, it gets drunk and throws up the excitement and fun it had and ruins the party. Soon, all the guests start to look tired and bored; they've clearly had enough and not even the joyous, upbeat music is doing any good. In fact, it gets annoying, no one wants to hear it anymore because it simply doesn't sound as good as it did when things began. Nevertheless, it keeps droning on and on in the background that causes the night to become dull and monotonous. In the end, the overall party wasn't as good as how it started, but at least the good memories remain untarnished.
