Review Summary: If you don’t mind the cardinal sins of modern pop music and want to jam something catchy without thinking too much, this is a record for you.
Last summer an acquaintance reccommended me this fun little song titled “CRIMINAL”. Strong radio pop vibes, only heavier, but it’s catchy so I kept listening to it for months completely oblivious about the actual album. It took me until this May to even realize that
WAS HERE is a thing. When I did though, I immediately felt the masochistic urge to check it front to back, especially since the deluxe edition had just dropped with four more tracks to possibly cringe at. I have to say, I fully expected this to be an immensely guilty pleasure and I’m not disappointed.
Starting with the production; it’s slightly too compressed but generally satisfactory, especially the bass’ audibility. Expect a multitude of glitch effects. The music itself? Decent guitars, bouncy beats, big choruses, a pleasant synth lead every once in a while. That’s about it.
WAS HERE won't blow your mind, it’s a record that does just enough to get by. A good thing is that each song does it differently. The proportions of pop and rock are constantly changing and we even get a touch of nu-metal in “WARZ0NE” and a full metalcore bridge in “CRIMINAL”, courtesy of Polaris. Surprisingly, guitar solos appear as well and they’re fairly good, especially the one in “KILL [H] ER”. Vocals follow suit – no virtuosity but if you’re in for competent work and hooks for days, you came to the right place. Bonnie Fraser has a very nice low voice and a knack for crafting earworm melodies, and probably could keep the record afloat even if the instrumental section was utter trash. Too bad her singing is drowned in effects all the time. It’s not like she can’t hit the right notes and is bound to “fix” it with studio magic, not to mention how artificial-sounding her parts ended up. We also get several features, which are… okay. My main problem is that as processed as Bonnie’s vocals are, they’re still pleasant to listen to (guess I just like women with low voices) and the others just don’t sit that well with me, maybe except Sueco. I’ll give credit where it’s due though, their timing and delivery are spot on and actually add a sense of variety to the songs, particularly on “GIRL$”.
But the icing on the cake are the lyrics. Oh man, the lyrics… It all comes down to venting on paper, resulting with either simple, literal lines or – much more often – pure comedic gold. The first group includes “17” and its reprise. Say what you say about the phrasing but the message is clear (disclaimer: SA) and these two are good evidence that Bonnie writes for her own peace, not for art. There are even flashes of brilliance present, specifically
If I was as hollow as you/Maybe then I’d be bulletproof from “G.A.G.”. If you want a clever metaphor, take this one and stop paying attention to the lyrics – because now we get to the funny variety, and trust me, some are so cringe-inducing they deserve a spot in
Guinness World Records. My personal highlights include:
Fuck you y fuck you por dos (“GIRL$”)
Spilling my blood in the kitchen/Mincing your words and your reasons/Make it a meal, give you the fries/Eating it up like a snake bite (“KISSIN’ KILLER COBRAS”)
Built like a tampon, soak in your ego (“ROCKSTAR”)
Some may nod, most will cringe, but to me it’s bloody hilarious. The sheer absurdity of some of these lines is enough to crack me up and it gets even better looking at the interviews. When I read that with “KISSIN’ KILLER COBRAS” Bonnie was “trying to write this little urban legend of someone getting attacked by a snake and then becoming the fucking snake”, I know Stand Atlantic isn’t the type of band to pretend they’re putting out something deep and profound. They just do whatever they want without taking it too seriously and I’m more than okay with it.
Since I took on the red edition, I guess I should talk a little about the bonus tracks. “I’M THE MAN” is some more of the same (read: dumb fun), though the amount of chorus’ repetitions is overkill. “NOTHING HURTS WHEN YOU’RE HOLLOW” is basically a stripped version of “FRENEMIES”, trading the punch and the guitar solo for a moodier, laid back approach (ruined by obligatory vocal effects). The remixes are a little surprising. PVRIS gave “FREAKIN' OUT” an awesome treatment – it’s poppier, more low-key and stays faithful to the original while sounding great on its own. The “CRIMINAL” remix, on the other hand, is a slop. Somebody clearly tried to be creative with the given material and it just didn’t work out. Not only is the beat broken and feels disjointed from the vocal lines, all energy that makes the standard version appealing has been drained.
Browsing reviews for this one you’ll barely see anything but mantras like “exciting and unheard”. Which is funny, because
WAS HERE is among the dumbest, most generic releases I’ve listened to in a long while and its biggest strength is the mass of hooks stuffed into each and every corner of the record. Don’t get me wrong, it can be stupidly fun, it just requires a certain attitude from the listener. If you don’t mind the cardinal sins of modern pop music and want to jam something catchy without thinking too much, this is a record for you.
