Review Summary: For fans of: New Found Glory, Hit The Lights, honest and to the point pop punk with thought provoking and relate-able lyrics, sing-a-longs.
If you've been scouring the desert looking for some good, honest, energy and hook driven pop punk, consider your search over. No, that's not a mirage; it's
The City Strikes Back. This 4 piece from the Bronx has been at it for a little over a year, and “We Will Live Forever” is what they have to show for their time together thus far. Time well spent.
I personally had to listen to a couple of the songs from this EP on loop because I was editing them, and in all honesty, I never got sick of them. If anything, they just became stamped into my memory for good. Every track on this EP is a standout and they all flow seamlessly into each other. There are no breaks in the action whatsoever. The opener, “Before I Depart” essentially sums up various hooks from different songs on the EP and prepares you for what is to come. It bleeds right into the next track, “We Can Make It If We Move”, which is actually the first full song penned by the band. It’s big chorus and effortless breakdown with leave you wanting more. And as an added bonus, just try rapping the chorus to “99 Problems” over the outro. You will not be disappointed. “My Friends Were Right” is next at bat with an intro that Hit The Lights wish they wrote and a killer bass line by Phil Adragna. “Redbull Gave Us Wings” (endorsement please? haha) boasts yet another huge chorus and introduces you to the magical pipes of back up vocalist Julio Dufflar. This song probably has the heaviest breakdown on the EP (GET LOW). The auto-tune laced outro may seem a little out of place with the rest of the EP, but it isn’t too over the top. “Coastlines” lets Dufflar show off his guitar prowess, and once again Adragna comes through, setting up a perfect tempo change into a breakdown. The key change at the end of the song is majestic in every way. The title track is the heaviest overall on the EP. It showcases drummer Danny Engledrum’s intense fills, and puts Dufflar on a pedestal above most pop punk guitarists. Andronico’s start and stop guitar playing is flawless and dramatic, setting the tone for the track. The harmony-laden bridge really gives Andronico a chance to show off his vocal abilities in a big way. The outro to the song can only be done justice if seen performed live in a sweaty church basement.
Mike Andronico is a lyrical mastermind whose prose is so easy to relate to. Lines like “you’ll bruise for the best and move on / and you, and you will find someone” give hope to the loners out there and let you know that there are better things to come. Andronico drops some more lyrical gold on “Redbull Gave Us Wings” when he unleashes the chorus: “anything you ask for / will only take you so far / and we got nothing that we wished for / yeah, but we’re still wishful”. So relatable you want to go out and hug strangers on the street.
The production, done by Dave Andronico (yes, relation), is perfect. Very clean, tight and well done, but at the same time not so over the top that it makes the band sound like every other band out there. This band has the chops that would make overproduction seem to defeat the point. Plus, they put on an amazing live show and can really go somewhere.
