Maybe I just didn't give Midtown a chance. I should like them. I enjoy Cobra Starship and I'm a fan of Fall Out Boy. I guess because my favorite Fall Out Boy material is their more poppy material, and Midtown are more punky, I didn't like this. Midtown might be energetic and they seem to have a lot to say, but they can't capture my ears.
"Armageddon" opens the album. It's basically crowd chants. A decent intro. I guessed correctly those chants will feature on the next song, "To Our Savior". I was about to try to sing along and enjoy the energy and poppiness. I found out that I couldn't. That is when I became jaded when it comes to Midtown. With 14 tracks left, I hoped that they could redeem themselves.
They didn't. "Give It Up" is energetic but falls too dull and not catchy enough. From time to time, the song feels like it could be good, but it never tries to. "Is It Me? Is It True?" is better. A clumsy hook that could've been better, the "Sex is old/Sex is boring" part is extremely catchy, and the highlight of the album. Yup, in this 15-tracks album, the best there is, is a bridge in a song.
"Whole New World" offers a great hook which falls in the end and "Empty Like The Ocean" got some catchy verses. It doesn't mean these songs are very good. They could've been adjusted a little bit and re-written. If so, then they would actually be worth listening. When the hook of "Whole New World" stops and Gabe says "Save yourself/there's no salvation", it truly feels like they didn't know how to continue. These 2 songs end the album, because nothing worthwhile comes after that (It's worth noting the instrumental "God Is Dead", which plays the "Whole New World" melody is nice).
The problem with
Forget What You Know is that it can't offer anything good. The second half only ranges from average to pretty bad. The band sounds lively and fun, and you can tell they might be able to produce something good. It's just their song-crafting skill is too weak and too many songs fly by. Midtown also tries to get a little creative, stretching "So Long As We Keep Our Bodies Numb We're Safe" to 13 minutes by repeating the same lines while the music slowly changes. It could've been a nice idea, but the constantly repeated "Don't listen" really starts to feel like an order instead of a suggestion, and I'll definitely obey.
Punk-Pop fans might enjoy this, but I think they should go and look around the genre for better stuff. Even average bands can produce something worthwhile. Forty Foot Echo had "Long Way Down" and July For Kings have "Anything But Beautiful". Midtown don't have a song like this here. There's a few flashes of goodness here and there. Mostly though, this music will make you forget that you know it.
Skinnee Picks:
- Is It Me? Is It True?
- Whole New World
- Empty Like The Ocean
