Review Summary: FTSK are back and stronger than ever
Where to begin with Forever the Sickest Kids? Line-up changes, loss of their record label, and a rather poor sophomore effort made many fans lose hope or all together stop caring. I'll admit I got into them a little late (after their self-titled actually) and I wasn't really blown away. Songs like Whoa Oh (Me Vs. Everyone) and Keep On Bringing Me Down were really catchy and are more or less the reason I paid any attention to the band. J.A.C.K changed that. After being picked up by Fearless the band started releasing updates on their YouTube channel and I was intrigued to see what they would come up with next, so I sat down, downloaded the album and listened
Chin Up Kid 3.5/5
The album kicks off with a pop punk break up anthem (shocking I know) but despite how over done it is this song did it right. A great opener except for towards the end with off key chants and poor electric effect, still a pretty good song though
Keep Calm And Don't Let Me Go 3/5
A good song to follow Chin Up Kid but nothing really special lyrically or musically, just harmless power pop/pop punk
Nice to Meet You 5/5
Finally a break from all the typical pop punk love and break up songs. Not really anything to astounding about this track, decent lyrics and the best the band has done at being stand out
Nikki 4/5
Fall Out Boy fans will be delighted to know that this song was co-written by Patrick Stump. Don't let that confuse you though it's not a Fall Out Boy song. What it lacks in Wentz's clever lyrics it makes up for in cleaner sound and better bass. Not a ground breaking song but still a stand-out track for the album
Ritalin (Born In America) 3.5/5
My favorite song lyrically, good music, a really cool piano interlude with spoken part by one of the members and a nice guitar riff. It does lose points for that weird intro they do and it's just too long.
Kick It! 3/5
Not a bad track, not a great one either. Nothing really to say about it I tend to skip it
Playing With Fire 2.5/5
The second worst song on the album. Nothing really fun about this track for me, and lyrically its pretty stupid.
Count On Me (For Nothing) 1/5
I'll be honest I lost faith right here. Obvious filler with a bad intro, chorus, and oh god the outro. Lowest point of the album IMO
La La Lainey 4.5/5
This is a gem for the album. Really catchy and Johnathan's vocals don't come across as whiny like they can at times. I would have given it 5/5 but it's just a bit too far on the pop side of the spectrum for me. A great way to recover the album
My Friends Save Me 4/5
I was surprised to hear an acoustic(ish) song on this album but it was actually really good. A nice slow down from all the in your face pop songs. Kinda like Coffee Break in a way but maybe it's just me
Cross My Heart 5/5
I liked this one a lot. Good guitar, lyrics, bass, and the best drum work I've heard from Kyle since Ritalin. A nice way to wrap things up
Overall I enjoyed listening to album though it by no means blew me away or did anything substantial for the genre It did, however, likely win back fans that got discouraged with their self titled album and it did make for a nice return for the band
