Review Summary: It's not the worst party ever, but it certainly ain't the best.
In the age of technology, it’s becoming increasingly easy to put your music out into the world and increasingly harder to get that music heard. There’s thousands of great bands that the vast majority of listeners haven’t even discovered. Luckily, with the use of Youtube and the Recommended Search Bar, people have stumbled upon a Florida emo group called “Worst Party Ever.”
This band’s debut, Anthology, was released on November 11, 2016 and is one of the most raw and honest albums I have listened to in a long time. The songs here are personal and gripping. Every word and chord sounds meaningful, and it works to this album’s advantage every time.
From opener “Sub Bean Every Day,” we are presented with an emotional and broken sounding singer. The first line perfectly sets the tone for the album ahead of us. “I’m always thinking, ‘Are you alright?’” It’s a song with only two chords in its short run time but it’s extremely effective, closing with the singer echoing “I never wanna fall in love again.” He sounds so sincere and so haunted. It’s amazing.
The first half of this record is mostly acoustic, and it rarely drags or becomes lackluster. Tracks still have an immense amount of energy, even with minimal instruments. The song “Trying Soda (I Know You So Well)” is easily one of my favorites. It keeps a fast pace with snappy rhymes and a great melody. It’s accompanied by “Trying Harder,” a counterpart to the song. It borrows the same melody and rhythm but at a slower tempo, and the two work brilliantly together. Another fast-paced acoustic is “Ohmygodicantbelieveiforgothowtoplaythis.” It’s a snappy guitar riff that is very pleasant to hear. Overall, the guitar sound is excellent; as for the vocals, well, they can get pretty bad.
Vocally, there are two low points in this album, with the first coming as a cover from band Your Favorite Place. “Ditching Friends for Naps” starts off promising, but becomes unbearable with out of tune sustained notes. It sounds weak; not in the sense that it makes the singer seem vulnerable, but in the sense where it makes him sound unenthusiastic. The other poor vocal performance comes in the painfully slow “Brian in Tampa.” This track drags for what seems like forever. While the vocals here aren’t as bad as the previously mentioned track, and the repetition of the line “you and I sing/scream so compulsively” is done is such a monotone and flat way. These tracks make listening to the record in full a little more difficult.
Another track that lowers the quality of the album is the song “Big Wave.” This song is very good and mixed in an interesting way, but the verses bear a striking resemblance to “West Coast” by FIDLAR. It might have been intentional, however, as the second verse references the state of Oregon, much like the FIDLAR song. Either way, once the similarities are recognized, it loses much of its quality.
The second half of the album brings in the full band, and most of the songs are quite good. Songs like “Kicking Myself In The Face,” “1:30,” and “Come On Guys” are infectiously upbeat and are littered with catchy lyrics. The singer sings excellent lines like “Do you think about dying as much as the rest of the world does?,” “Like a train in the morning, I’ll wake you up without warning,” and “I love how you disappear if I need you.” These are a pleasure to listen to.
Not all the fast paced songs land, however, as “Real Sports.” Its generic lyrics really bring it down to the point where even the high energy and breakneck pace can’t save it.
Over the track "Swimming," we get into the part of the album that's not the easiest or the most pleasant thing to listen to. The sound quality dips to the point where it hurts the ears, and the demos seem like an unnecessary inclusion to the mix.
This album is overall a very mixed experience. It has songs that are very good, but it also has ones that could have used more work. Anthology sounds like a group of talented, devoted, and inspired musicians started an album and then ran out of money half way through. Anthology isn't awful, but the quality of music shifts constantly to the point where it's a little hard to sit through without skipping a few tracks and almost every song from the Wires Demo onward.
In the end, I recommend checking this album out. There’s a lot of potential in this band and with enough attention they could do something great. I wish they had more money and / or time for this album, because most of its problems could have been either fixed or made less prominent.
I understand the band's intent to put all of their songs on one complete album and it was a good try, but there's just too many poor songs on here. Whether the issue is songwriting-based or preformance-based is irrelevant. I hope this band builds on their strengths and fixes up their weaknesses. There's a ton of potential in this group. I hope that we get to see that come to fruition.
2/5