Review Summary: It’s a roller coaster of high hopeful energy and sorrow-filled lethargy that deserves a listen from everybody at one point in their life.
I’ve always had a connection to Pop Punk. The genre practically defined my taste in music and while over the years I have definitely grown and so have my music tastes, I still return to the bands I used to enjoy. Bands like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte while not having the best lyrics or music still connected with me and I felt like they understood me. Slowly, though, I did move onto some better artists. Yellowcard tapped into my love for summer and allowed me to express myself even if they did break up this past year, and Blink-182 let me know that it’s okay to grow up and be fearful of the future. I’ve gotten into different genres, and have even gave EDM a try (James from two years ago would kill me for that). What I’m trying to say is that it’s always a good idea to come back to what you love even if it’s been a while. So when I gave The Gospel Youth’s first and newest record, what did I think?
I loved it.
Prior to this record, I hadn’t heard a single thing from these guys. I was browsing the “Similar Artists” section and found them, saw the new record, pressed play on “I Will Deliver You To The Fireflies” and from the first piano bit and the way that Sam sang his vocals I was hooked. This opening song set the stage for the whole record which is full of pain and heartache. It’s the perfect opener and hits extremely hard for me with the passing of my Grandmother only a few months back. It’s a roller coaster of high hopeful energy and sorrow-filled lethargy that deserves a listen from everybody at one point in their life.
“Gin and Black Coffee” brings back the angst fueled vocals and high energy guitars from the early 2000’s and feels like something Fall Out Boy or A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out era Panic! At The Disco would put out. and “Wildfire” easily resonates with me extremely well being a song about how anxiety can virtually destroy you, and make you feel like there’s nothing left to fight for.
“Tired Eyes and Heavy Hearts” continues the beautiful sound of “Wildfire” but with the tone and feeling of “I Will Deliver You To The Fireflies“, speaking about overcoming problems and being who you want to be, it feels like a direct continuation of “Wildfire“. “Your Love Was A Cancer” is where this album hits it’s first road bump, a song that tries to be energetic just feels like an old pop punk song but this time in a bad way with it's cliche'd lyrics and less than innovative instrumentals. “Revolutions” brings up right back to where we were during “Wildfire” and again it hits hard and truly makes you feel the way he feels while singing it.
The album from here on out seems to move through the motions for certain parts, “Moods Like English Weather” works on a lot of levels but after the heart wrenching “Revolutions” it feels like too big of a change and “Kids” is arguably the song that made the band (it’s been released like four times, I think?), just feels like they’re milking it now. On the other hand, “Spirit of Boston” and “Bloodlines//Love Stopped Me Coming Home” bring back the feeling of the first half of the album.
The album opens and closes with very difficult songs to get through if you’ve experienced losing a loved one. The entire album feels like a collection of wonderful and terrible times. If you like Pop Punk, give this thing a listen immediately. If you don’t like Pop Punk, still give it a listen. It is worth your time.
