Review Summary: Solid enough chub.
Name a better glow up in the scene than Johnny Franck. At one point, his biggest claim to fame was his hilariously auto-tuned singing on the chorus of Attack Attack’s “Stick Stickly” and the aggressively mediocre music that followed during his tenure with the band. While Attack Attack may hold a legacy in the hearts of nostalgic scene kids (myself included) with a soft spot for Joey Sturgis-produced metalcore in the early 2010’s, Johnny himself was not in a good place following his departure from the band. He formed his solo project Bilmuri during the absolute lowest of lows in his life and would go on to catapult it into something truly special. 2024’s
American Motorsports was a massive stepping stone in Johnny’s quest for world domination. It boasted enough country twang, sing-along choruses and Kevin James callouts to net him prestigious arena tours alongside contemporary scene titans Sleep Token and Bad Omens. Fast forward to present day – now signed to Columbia Records and a massive following to his name –
Kinda Hard has a lot riding on it, and no amount of “crank that hog”-memes can overcompensate for a potentially lackluster follow-up.
Luckily,
Kinda Hard mostly executes on the Bilmuri formula with satisfying results. The album balances Johnny’s typical brand of country-tinged post-hardcore and breakup-ridden lyricism that usually culminates in incredibly infectious choruses. Breakdowns, steel guitars, techy solos and Josh Manuel’s punishing drum fills neatly round out the musical smorgasbord on offer. Whereas prior albums and EPs saw Johnny experimenting quite a bit with the occasional EDM-flavour (
Goblin Hours) or lo-fi-instrumentation (
Wet Milk),
Kinda Hard sees him mostly playing his cards close to his chest. There really isn’t much in the way of progression from his previous works, with the occasional curve ball being thrown in by way of the big city pop aesthetic of “TWICE” or the full blown pop punk worship of “ALWAYS LET YOU DOWN”. While Johnny’s vocal flow and delivery remain as sharp as ever, it’s tough to shake the feeling that
Kinda Hard comes across as less adventurous than earlier Bilmuri releases. The lyrical content is incredibly one-note, rarely straying beyond post-breakup heartache, and at times feels undercooked or overly manufactured. The ludicrously distorted chugs and 808 barrage of the opening title track are silly at best and grating at worst and tracks like “WORST PART OF YOU” and “WHERE TO FIND ME” just kind of drift by with minimal impact.
Fortunately, a few absolute belters are able to pick up some of the slack. “ROCK BOTTOM”, “BACK, THEN” and “HONEST” feature mammoth-sized choruses and some of Johnny’s most dialed in melodies. The latter in particular is a masterclass of dynamics and restraint before a hum-dinger elbow drop into its chorus hits the listener like a pickup truck. Disappointingly, Gabi’s saxophone is incredibly underutilized throughout the record, stripping the Bilmuri sound of one of its signature traits. On the whole,
Kinda Hard is a slightly overbloated post-hardcore offering that takes few risks and leans a tad too heavily into the realm of overly sugar-coated production and songwriting. The country influences aren’t as tastefully implemented as they were on
American Motorsports and Johnny’s songwriting chops fluctuate between sheer brilliance and overt familiarity. Still, its high points very much belong in the pantheon of Johnny’s greatest hits and are perfectly in line with the approaching summer season; just don’t expect it to elevate the formula in any meaningful way.
