Hailing from Long Island is the Backup Plan. With strong lyrics and even stronger music, the Backup Plan fuses together hardcore and melodic punk so well it hurts.
The album kicks off with one hell of an opener.
Vegas Baby, Vegas is not a traditional introduction. It knocks you down and doesn’t let you back up. It gets right into what the band is about. Hardcore. Some power chords and the snare drum blaring in all its glory, this song just keeps on rolling on. A powerful song that fits the city of sin perfectly ending with the band chanting: “We did it! We made it out, alive. We did it! We made it out, alive tonight.” The song
Good Food, Good Friends, Lots Of Crazy Crap On The Walls is some great melodic punk. This song is believe it or not a great song to dance to. It is very upbeat and the vocals go great with some nice guitar mutes and riffs. The 2-step beat in this song is great and just adds to the upbeat feeling of the song.
If it’s one thing on the album to pay attention to it’s the drums. Although if you play drums you will probably say, “Wow. That drummer has no rhythm at all.” Come on. It’s hardcore. It’s about feeling the music and just moving around to it. A song with some great examples of this is
Cross Your T’s And Poke Out Your Eyes. The drums here are very fast paced and well done, and the vocals compliment the drums perfectly. They are raspy yet tolerable. With the backup vocalist well, backing up the vocalist (as they should) perfectly. It ends with the lyrics, “Just forget (just forget) just forget about winning this one.” Some guitar chords than it’s over. This song leads perfectly to on the most melodic and best songs on the record,
A Completely Original Song About Getting ***ed Over. Some guitars blaring and the bass and drums meeting perfectly, this song moves from being flat out hardcore right into an upbeat 2-step beat and melodically flows into the outro leaving you with a damn near incredible song.
Arguably the best song on the record,
Striking Chords is probably the most well down song on the album. Although it’s only a minute and twenty-two seconds long this is one of those songs that keep making you want more and more. It’s starts off with some heavy screaming, and then gets more and more melodic and lighter. This song comes from the heart and expresses what true hardcore is all about. Literally. The song ends off with the vocals singing/chanting: “Well I’ll pour my f***ing heart out, just so you can sing along… …turn it up, play it faster, do it with more heart, do it with more heart, give it all you got.” This song should have been the last song on the record, because it ends perfectly and would make you want to by the next release.
The Backup Plan although some may call generic, is a very great band, and although they are not together anymore should get some recognition in the hardcore scene, and just the music scene in general.
4 / 5
Recommended Tracks:
Good Food, Good Friends, Lots Of Crazy Crap On The Walls
Cross Out Your T’s And Poke Out Your Eyes
A Completely Original Song About Getting ***ed Over
Striking Chords
