I loved June's first EP; it was packed with emotion and probably could have received a 4.5/5. But June, born in Chicago music scene and influenced by The Blood Brothers decided to take the emphases of one lead singer and used two singers and the emotion was gone for their first full-length album, If You Speak Any Faster.
What I Liked:
These songs are so catchy, shall I say very catchy. The songs all have chorus that are repeated over and over again which makes the bad supporting lyrics go away. The next thing I think is good is June did this for lets face it a bad recording company. Victory only has two good bands in: Taking Back Sunday and Straylght Run. The last review for this was very biased towards the 4th track on this album entitled "My Side Of The Story"; the song is a comparison to Two Zero Two by Northstar in that it is lyric driven and has a very good chorus. Another song I liked was "Patrick, the only single so far from the album the song is lyrically driven and I think it might be one of the only songs that has a pre-chorus that last most of the song, and the chorus is good as well. "Speak Up", the first track on this album, is really reminds me of Joanne's Story and shows June's potential as a band that can take Victory Records to the next level.
What I Disliked:
Well, lets start with the instruments. Pop-punk bands have never been known to play their instruments well and the songs are usually lyrically driven so it doesn't matter what the instruments do. But you still have to create a new beat or feel for each song, what I'm trying to say is a lot of these songs sound the same which makes the album kind of boring. "Ok Corral” should have been replaced by another song on June's "The Vinyl Summer EP" maybe Sometimes or Joanne's Story could have fit the load but the song is often boring and the only good is the background in the chorus but the rest of the song is just bland and dull. The other con I have is these songs can get a little repitive like most bands on Victory Records songs get, the chorus is fine about 3 or 4 times through the song but in the case of Elevators are Matchmakers the chorus is allowed to be repeated 6 or 7 times which makes it kind of stupid. Again I put this as a plus but it can be a con if the song doesn't have a good chorus.
"It's Alright":
A lot of songs on here can be described with those two words [The City, Invitation, YOU HAD IT COMING BUT THIS TIME YOU’RE A DEAD MAN] are all very mediocre songs. These songs can start off fast but generate into very slow and boring songs. If you don't like the early part of this album, I suggest that you don't listen to the rest.
Song by song:
Speak Up 5/5
Patrick 4.5/5
Ok Corral 3/5
My Side Of The Story: 5/5
Elevators are Match Makers: 3.5/5
SCANDALS AND SCOUNDRELS: 3.5/5
The City: 3/5
Invitations: 2.5/5
I Write B Movies: 4/5
You Had It Coming... 3/5
I've got The Time if you've Got The Argument: 4/5
Conclusion:
This album is not an album if you hate pop-punk bands that don't have a distinguished lead singers [Just Surrender, Taking Back Sunday] and even though June is a level down from those bands they still put forth some exciting songs, but nothing to special in their first full length album.
