Review Summary: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are back in full force, flaws and all.
Marketed as the sucessor to their debut album Don't You Fake It, and while elements from said album are present, including the heaviest songs in their discography and lead singer Ronnie Winter's returning screams that sound as painfully forced as they did 19 years ago. That being said, a more accurate discription would be the continuation of the sound from their third album "Am I the Enemy" where the emo side of their brand of emo/post-hardcore was more prominant, compared to "Don't You Fake It" where the latter was the leading force. A highly polished emo pop record with simplistic but well incorporated riffs, blasting power chords and soaring choruses, with songs like "X's for Eyes" and "Purple Halo" displaying Winter's strengths in crafting contagious earworm melodies.
This is a pleasant suprise as The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus have been on a steady decline ever since the release of "I Am the Enemy" in 2011 with the band releasing albums and singles that have mostly gone unnoticed by fans and critics alike. To add insult to injury, all founding members but Winters and bassist Joey Westwood left the band leading to an era with coming and going members which took it's tole on the quality of their songwriting with both their 2014 album "4" and their 2018 album "The Awakening" sounding like rehashed ideas from their previous albums. Additionally, RJA started to incorporate their beliefs more openly, which divided their already dwindeling fanbase.
However, with the increasing popularity of nostalgia festivals and "elder emo's" viral tik tok videos, RJA have seen a boost in popularity, which brings us to 2025 where The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are back in full force, flaws and all. Politics aside, "X's for Eyes" is RJA's most focused effort in many years with Christianity once again taking a backseat in favor of a renewed focus on songwriting with songs like "Twenty Hour Drive" that does not rely solely on it's religious message and features the band's most tasty guitarwork to date.
That being said, this is a Red Jumpsuit Apparatus record through and through, nasally vocals and janky transitions all included with songs like the albums opener "Always the King" which seems more like a collection of good to not-so-good ideas than a finished song. They are still very much Silverstein lite, but are competent enough songwriters to make an album that will be a pleasant suprise to returning and new fans alike. Welcome back, RJA. Not sure you were really missed, but hey - respect your elders and all that.
