Tom Delonge has been promising a lot of things since the formation of Angels and Airwaves in 2006.  After releasing a few albums that personally did not please this listener, comes Love Part 2.  I was expecting another album full of ambient guitars, 2 minute intros followed by 2 minute outros, boy was I wrong.  On Love Pt. 2 the band has finally found the perfect mixture of ambiance and stadium anthems that they have been trying to accomplish since “We Don’t Need To Whisper.”   This is the album that I’ve been waiting for since the band formed!  It highlights Delonge’s signature vocals perfectly and for the first time on any Angels and Airwaves album, contains some seriously catchy hooks. I can’t believe that I am writing this sentence, but LOVE PT 2 is the album that I wish Blink 182 would have put out, rather than Neighborhoods. This record contains everything I have come to love about Delonge and seeing how much Angels and Airwaves have grown since their release of LOVE just last year is amazing! I cannot quit listening to this record, which is saying a lot as I have never really listened to many of the bands previous releases on repeat for days on end.  If this is any sign as what to expect from the bands next release, they might just be touring stadiums and arenas in the near future.  I can finally say that Delonge has created a record outside of Blink 182 that meets the quality, playability, and longevity as Boxcar Racer. Look for a more detailed review soon.

As for LOVE THE MOVIE, all I can say is watch it.  Don’t turn this movie off after the first 10 or 15 minutes, because you think it makes no sense.  As the movie wraps up, everything ties together almost seamlessly, leaving you scratching your head wondering how in the hell did all of this happen?  The last 10 minutes of the film blew my mind and left me wanting to watch the film again.  The soundtrack Delonge and company composed for this film is brilliant and adds mounds to the total experience.  After almost 5 years of hearing the hype, reading the interviews and watching the band grow, LOVE THE MOVIE puts everything into perspective and gave me a totally new appreciation for the brilliant man that Delonge truly is.  Not only is he a musician, but he is a modern day visionary, creating the film he promised from the beginning no matter how many setbacks, haters or Blink albums he has recorded.  Now that LOVE THE MOVIE has been released, one can begin to see the bigger picture that Delonge has spoken of for many years.  All that I want to know is what does the future hold for Delonge and company now that this massive undertaking has finally been completed?

If Donald Glover isn’t already a recognizable name, you might think about relocating from underneath the rock you live under.  The man has written for television shows such as The Daily Show and 30 Rock.  He’s done stand-up comedy.  He’s performed comedy with his sketch group Derrick Comedy, which led to a feature length film, Mystery Team (a must see), which the group wrote and starred in.  He’s currently starring in NBC’s Community.  And if all of that wasn’t enough, Glover is also a rapper under the name Childish Gambino.

Glover has released multiple mixtapes and EP’s, all independently, which not only showcase his musical knowledge in the art of musical composition, but also his wit and charm as a lyricist.  His most recent effort, Camp, which will be released under Glassnote Records, is the culmination of all of the work he’s done to be taken seriously as a rapper.

Opening track “Outside” starts the album off with the passion and energy displayed on previous efforts, but this album is much more introspective as a whole.  If Glover’s Untitled EP was any indication to the content that would be featured on Camp, it is in the emotion displayed both lyrically, and instrumentally.  “Firefly” follows with the same lyrical feel, in that it’s clear that Glover wants to tell a story.  The song itself feels like something out of the 90’s, and it becomes apparent that “Camp” is a very diverse album rather quickly.

—-Rob C.

Tracks like “Bonfire”, “Backpacker”, and “You See Me” are less emotional, and revolve more around riffing lyrically, but maintain the story that Glover is presenting.  For those out there who are already fans of Gambino, these are the songs that probably feel the most like his breakout track “Freaks and Geeks” or Culdesac, but Camp actually maintains a lot of the ideas from previous efforts both instrumentally and lyrically.

Other tracks like “All The Shine”, “Heartbeat”, “Kids” showcase Glover’s ability to not only rap and write extremely personal lyrics, but also to sing, and do it pretty well.  His falsetto is beautifully displayed in tracks “All The Shine” and “Hold You Down”.  “Heartbeat” is one of my two favorites on the album because the story within the song is told so well, and Glover’s vocals display so much emotion both in his singing and in his rapping.

My other personal favorite on the album is “Sunrise”.  The song has a very upbeat feel to it, with that anthemic style that Glover’s come to be known for.  Plus he mentions Carmen Sandiego, LOST, as well as the fact that he’s not related to Danny Glover (at least I think that’s in there…I’ll have to double check rapgenius later).

The album closer, “That Power”, brings everything back into perspective.  The song starts out with Glover singing “All these haters/see you later…” and leads into Glover continuing his story while injecting his recognizable wit throughout.  Eventually the song leads into a spoken word story where Glover pretty much spells out what the album is trying to say.  It’s a modest story that I’ll let you hear for yourself, but the beautiful part is that while Glover gives the album a very conclusive feel by the end, it opens up the record for another listen in which you will hopefully pick up some things you didn’t pick up on at first.  Maybe that lyric that you thought meant one thing, also means another.  Maybe the whole song meant something totally different.

This album may be one of the smartest hip-hop albums released in the past decade.  It doesn’t rely on any gimmicks.  It doesn’t rely on dime a dozen hooks.  It’s just itself.  Glover once said in a song that he wanted to “take a lesson from Kanye and give them something real”.  If this is the product of that lesson, then Kanye should keep an eye out for Glover, because I can’t imagine Glover is going to slow down anytime soon.

Normally I HATE brokenCYDE. Hell, most people do, and there are about a million reasons why, which I won’t even get into.  However, at the  I decided to give this record a listen though, largely to affirm my own gratification that they still sucked. Oddly enough, I actually ended up liking this CD. Wait…What The Fuck, did I just say like and brokeNCYDE in the same sentence.  What has the world come to.

The way this album was created is so different from their previous releases. In some songs, they rap very fast and it’s the same old white-boy rapper type of deal. They also show off their old side in the record. It is quite clear to me that brokenCYDE is actually attempting to make music, unlike what they have done (in my humble opinion) in the past. They’ve really changed it up on this album and I can’t say that I have very many problems with it. The band still retains that “rude and crude” element that originally caught so many ears. I don’t mind hearing about bitches, hoes, or getting blazed and fucking.  I mean really, does anyone not like these things?  (Westboro Baptist Church Get Ready To ATTACK!!!)

This album shows that brokenCYDE actually posses some degree of musical talent. They need to focus on the strong points of the album, like the smooth rhythms. Who knows, they may even gain a new fan-base and break the stereotype that they have been cast into by a large majority of the music industry, from the fan perspective anyways.  This album is actually properly named, it is my guilty pleasure.  I hated their previous releases, I’m going to be blunt about it……and I planned on hating this one as well.  But honestly, these dudes have talent.  If they can keep releasing solid records like these, they will gain a new fanbase, however with the new change, are they going alienate their diehard fans?  Who knows, but I would rather see a band making GOOD music, compared to whatever that shit was they used to put out.  Ok, Im going to listen to the album again, why not it’s not bad,  Either I’m going crazy, the world is going to end, or brokeNCYDE is making REAL MUSIC. Many may be skeptical, but give this release a try, you might actually enjoy it.  The album will be available at Hot Topic beggining Nov. 8th.  You can also pre-order some sweet bundles here, or on iTunes.  Give it a try, you might be surprised.  And enjoy the little video from BC13 below.

Simply put, Close Your Eyes’ Empty Hands And Heavy Hearts, ascends above and well beyond We Will Overcome.

Close Your Eyes’ sophomore album opens with “Hope Slips Away (The World Is Ours To Change).” This song immediately kicks it into high gear with familiar fast-paced drums and guitars. Lead vocalist Shane Raymond then belts out some of the greatest lines I’ve ever heard on a Close Your Eyes record. For those that stay up-to-date on current national and world news, you will find a striking similarity between the lyrics in this song and the current “Occupy” protests that are going on around the world. What a fantastic to song to start an album with!

The next song is titled “Empty Hands.” This track has a very punk rock feel to it, accentuated by yet again spot-on vocals.

I had to play “Erie” a few times in a row before I realized what band the first half of this song sounded like and then it hit me… Ever played the flash game “Punk-O-Matic?” According to an interview with Raymond, this song was inspired by a less than ideal experience that occurred at a fellow band’s practice space in Erie, PA.

“Valleys” retains a certain feel from We Will Overcome. Perhaps it could’ve been an extra song! This song brings a well-deserved change of pace within the album. This drop in pace does not hang around long though…

I could go on and on with in-depth summaries of each song but, I’ll leave the rest of goodies for you guys to hear for yourselves on October 24^th! My favorite songs on this album are oddly enough towards the end of the record. I won’t give too much away but, what I will say is this, anyone who has ever felt alone and as if they possess the weight of the world on their shoulders will be able to relate to “Keep The Lights On.” My other favorite song would be “Scars.” This is the other song on the album that I think retains that punk rock feel. Raymond absolutely nails the vocals in this song.

The final song on Empty Hands And Heavy Hearts is titled after the second part of the album name, “Heavy Hearts.” This one is very much a vocal-based song. There are multiple sung/gang vocal parts meshed into one another. We also hear a quick glimpse of Brett Callaway’s backing vocals. Is it just me or, do his screams sort of remind you of Mat Bruso’s? Just something that I’ve always noticed…

Close Your Eyes have done it again! They have produced an album that is unique and definitely worthy of your undivided attention. It can unfortunately be a hit or miss when a band puts out second album. Sometimes bands change their sound or style to appease their labels. This however, is not the case with Empty Hands And Heavy Hearts. It will arguable be the band’s best effort.

Empty Hands And Heavy Hearts comes out on Victory Records on October 25^th and will be in stores everywhere! Click here to pick up your copy of the new cd, as well as some extras if you so choose purchase one of the pre-order bundles, of which you can make YOURSELF!

One of the most memorable and significantly fun albums I have ever listened to was created through band Dance Gavin Dance in (200-) when Kurt Travis came into the band. Though he did not stay, having replaced temporary ex-member Jonny Craig during his short-lived absence, Kurt’s voice left a strong feel of true talent and strong unique sound for all Dance Gavin Dance listeners to experience. In the work Kurt contributed so greatly too, in the end, felt like a genre of its own; Not heavy screamo and not too upbeat and bouncy. I do not mean to say Jonny Craig is not good in Dance Gavin Dance. I personally feel that during his sudden absence, due to personal reason, was an amazing opportunity for us to get a sense of what Kurt Travis is all about. Though Kurt disappeared from Dance Gavin Dance at the end of Jonny Craig’s break, he is now in newly formed band A Lot Like Birds. When I was asked to review their new album Conversational Piece, I didn’t hesitate for even a second whether or not it would be enough in my interest to tackle a piece like this! I’ve only come to listen to a few tracks so far into writing this review, and found so far this album has strongly implemented Kurt’s style we witnessed in the album Happiness by Dance Gavin Dance is greatly thriving.

I guess the most blunt way I can translate my personal  view on A Lot Like Birds is that this is what Dance Gavin Dance would be if they continued with Kurt, which is exactly what so many of us have missed hearing since Jonny rightfully rejoined Dance Gavin Dance. Everything happens for reason, everything has fallen into place. Conversation Piece is one of the many amazing products of band member changes, hands down.

I’ll throw it here that Think Dirty Out Loud is outright the best track on the album. It’s only the second track in, and starts off with echoing bounces of screaming back and forth, exploding with the wild nature of Kurt’s style. It is a 4 minute long track and does not even entail being near the longest tracks on the album; this album overall has a large amount of recorded time. Echoing screams in the back, right behind the blasts of vocals Kurt lets out.  25 seconds in, the track comes to just his vocals calm from screaming, and burst back up another 25 seconds later. Seconds over a minute, the song overall comes a calm and Kurt’s voice echoes out into nothing, and within a split second, it’s two minutes in and there’s the vocal beauty of Kurt’s singing familiar to us from Happiness. Getting rather experimental and slightly strange, two minutes and 30 seconds in is a complete mental meltdown of lyrical composure and nothing but a quick 4 second filler to mash out a strong burst of energy in instruments.  It’s not poor really, just daringly strange. It doesn’t ruin the song either. It more or less adds a unique, random piece to throw you off a little and keep you on the edge, entirely entertained with this song. If a song could become the hit of the whole album, minus the overplayed attention a hit song will sadly usually get, this is the track.

The titles given to the songs on this album are so insane, you have to love them. A lot like the titles given to songs written by Dance Gavin Dance, Jonny Craig with his solo work, and Greeley Estates. Though half these songs have nothing to do with their outlandish names, the composure of the songs is not as bizarre. If anything should be made clear, it is the fact that these epicly random names are merely humorous and a perfect balance to how amazingly well-composed the tracks themselves are.

In this album, I would not change a thing. I will not even delve into the hypes and calms of Kurt in this new amazing set of songs. This is nonetheless something anyone who loved Happiness has waited for;  new material continued from the inspirations of Kurt meets Dance Gavin Dance without Jonny pulling it together for his band. Though it feels a little wrong mentions DGD probably more than A Lot Like Birds Themselves, I’ll say it again: A Lot Like Birds is the best of what was discovered during Kurt’s presence in Dance Gavin Dance. It is continued here, and he has made it his own. This album will become a favorite, and I do not have many on the level of interesting I consider this to be in.

Anyone who owns any Five Finger Death Punch album knows two of the strongest core concepts heavily covered throughout their tracks are that of their unbreakable Americanized pride and their devotion to true self, even if it means appearing as a selfish asshole to absolutely everyone. In this 2011 album, these two key topics could not have been waved around any stronger. They give voice to the reasoning within the American system, devoting songs to the troops we have fighting every day, and lyrically reminding the rest of us at home what we have to be so proud of due to the efforts of our own brave souled protection. Five Finger Death Punch have done it again and burst through with a new album titled American Capitalist.

The album starts off with their signature guitar riffs and fast and firm-steady bass drum beat, continuing along as vocals layer over perfectly, throwing what it means to be an American Capitalist right in your face before you can even breathe to take in anything else on the track. No regrets, no mercy, keep pushing forth, be damn proud of what has been accomplished thus far. These are clearly covered as The Way Of The Fist, a nice little touch heard subtly in this track. Vocals so strong and beholding can only make you feel like Ivan Moody is screaming into a strongly powered microphone, right in your face.

A quick little rundown and main message of track two sounds fitting! No one can tell you who you are, only you. Anyone tries to change you, busying yourself away from who you really are? Kick ‘em down, fuck ‘em back over, leave them with the dried up dead unreality they tried so hard to push unto you. And in the end? You’ll be Under and Over It All.

Five Finger Death Punch’s pride exploded phenomenally from the depths of the third track on their album, The Pride. What exactly is underneath American pride? Have we all sold out as Americans? Five Finger are well aware and chanting about our amazing accomplishments as American citizens, and all we have to be so proud of. The song’s first vocal portion consists of an enthralling rundown of past to modern day American-made creations we should be proud of. It goes a little something like this: “Johnny Cash! Jack Daniels! NASCAR!  Facebook! Myspace! Ipod! Dimebag! Tupac! Heavy Metal! Hip Hop! White House!  JFK! Coca Cola! Pepsi! Disney Land! Mickey Mouse!…” 5FDP make it clear we have this and so much more to be proud of as Americans. “All American. Living the dream!” What we have and what we fight for is what makes us. “I am what you fear most. I am what you need. I am what you make me. The American dream! I am not selling out, I am buying in! I will not be forgotten, this is my time to shine. I’ve got the scars to prove it… welcome to the pride!”

The album calms down a little in the transition to the fourth track, Coming Down. The simple guitar strumming and light bass and cymbal taps give the climb down feel as Ivan Moody, even though continuing his signature screaming, is telling the story as somewhat of a continuation from Under And Over It All.

Starting off with the rolling-up growl and scream to a 5FDP simple signature, “Ahhh, Fuck it!,” another scream is let out right after as Ivan rips into his victim verbally and steadily with how little of a fuck he gives what anyone thinks about him. The strength in Moody’s voice initiates instant understanding he believes everyone should believe the same. I don’t think I’m going to tear into this album further than I already have, the rest stays true to the messages of pride and is absolutely not even close to being a letdown. If you have ever liked Five Finger Death Punch, even just one or two of their hits over the years, you are sure to fall for a handful on American Capitalism, if not end up wanting to have the whole album on blast and repeat as you whip your car through your hometown on All Hallows’-Eve.

Hello Relient K-like sound. I’m sure those are one of the bands Mayday Parade wouldn’t mind touring with though, right? I have to admit, though I’m personally not a fan of this genre of music, poppy and gentle for the young female’s heart. This album is free-spirited and uppity just in time for the rising of the change in the Fall season. Just when it gets cold out, we all need something of a hype to balance out the feel, thus, this album has been placed in my iPod to play in the background as I walk around town and the shores with my camera, getting a new positive outlook on the coming new year.

The first track, as I mentioned before, starts out in a style that of Relient K. It then speeds up to an anthem-like rhythm almost exactly a minute in, and right back to a slow. This album is already showing signs of teaser hypes, while keeping a vivid happiness to itself. First track into second is a flow into a somewhat western-poppy sound. Violins laced in randomly show throughout the verses, bringing some interesting tweaks to the song. A light guitar solo to bring out a nice little rocker side will be found in this track as well, slowly flowing out to a willingly anticipated continued vocal segment.

Tracks three and four seem to carry out the same as two, with a calm feel keeping up throughout them. This is up until you come across Priceless, the fifth track of the album. This one doesn’t slow down too much and randomly speed up, if even for a handful of seconds… it just stays consistent. Then, it goes back to the albums calm feel.

This album over all is a huge representation that this band is more for their lyrics and less of their focus on unique instrumentals. The only sudden peak focus I was able to pull from this band, remarkably unexpected, was from the old-style classic rock guitar solos of a love sick songwriter. This album is truly calm, making it become the perfect din of sound music. The tracks don’t play and tell their own story, they’re quite generic enough to slide into any moment you’re in, giving the ability to listen to this band at any time a huge push. As mentioned before, this time of year is perfect for this release as in the Fall we listen more to ourselves than in any other time of year. Let Mayday Parade be the band to not take over the moment, but to give it a tune. This band could easily transform this whole album into an acoustic piece, and I don’t think that would be a bad idea at all.

- Kristen Waslufsky

Starting the album off with the exact title of their whole piece, is Awakening. It is literally an introduction to the album of smooth guitar riffs and a steady drum beat that flows into Beau Bokan’s vocals within a third of length into the song. Slowly slipping up through the cracks of the beat and the rhythm guitar are strongholds that grasp you swiftly, assuring you BlessTheFall is of the saints among the sinners, the promised ones and the righteous, and you, their followers, are taking over. This is yet another album from BlessTheFall that will be the smack into what needs to happen in reality.

Lyrics softly mentioned in the Awakening intro are expanded on in Promised Ones, the second track of the album. This band, as religious as they are, are the rebellion and the strong against today’s corrupt anti-morals. Constantly rising up over and jutting through whatever in life tries to hold us down. These are concepts strongly addressed by this 5-piece band since 2003, followed by so many, religious and the non, including myself. In the last 9 seconds of Awakening is a slow down to nothing but a simple guitar rhythm that continues into the first second of Promised Ones, speeding up with a scream let out by Beau Bokan and a climb down in guitar riff that, for a second, gently sounds like Bullet For My Valentine.

The album comes to a bit of a slow exactly halfway through the album at track 6, redirecting their lyrical focus on words for someone of a love. Less heavy and more clear vocals given the attention. This song makes for a true rocker couples love song, still holding a fast pace to keep you from falling asleep and the words so promising true love is still there. The song closes out with the sound of radio chatter, giving an antique feel to the ending of the song.

For those of you who were astonished by Craig Mabbit’s leave from BlessTheFall in 2008, yet have Witness on your iPod with the kick off of Beau’s start in the band, you are probably going to be with me when I say though BlessTheFall was amazing with Mabbit, and that was the true essence of BlessTheFall. The continuation of the band’s making music with Beau Bokan was a major success in keeping their true style going. Awakening still holds this, strong as ever. Anticipation on the release of Awakening will not go wasted, I promise you. I’m sure those of you who have managed to hear the couple of tracks leaked on Youtube and Soundcloud of this new 2011 Awakening album are the ones who can agree with me already. This band’s true focal point has yet to falter under any changes they succumb, and Awakening is the latest pure proof.

While tracks 6 and 7 may show a bit of the sappy side we know as the heartfelt of BlessTheFall, it speeds back up again 3/4th’s of the way through at track 8 with a speeding drum roll and lengthened guitar strums flying right into a loud scream and drum pulverization. The clean vocals and screaming constantly switching back and forth keeps you on edge to sing along and rage at the pits in utter determination to let loose.
This continues up until the start of the second to last track of the album, song 11, which is literally… Flatline. I had to turn my volume all the way up for this to hear all of the sounds laced within this track. You can hear a woman speaking in unrecognizable words and it seems to repeat, as though you could make your own sense of it. Almost like it would be different for each person who listened to it, like asking someone what THEY specifically saw when looking at an ink blob presented on a therapeutic sheet.

As the woman’s voice quits repeating, Flatline flows right into the last track with a bit of an electronic sound of old school Sky Eats Airplane, back when Jerry Roush was the lead vocalist. It doesn’t stay in this sense however and the band continues to go and close out in their own way, with long instrumental pauses, making for the perfect midnight drive of thoughts running endlessly through. Remaining calm, this track reaches fit for an ending track. A little over 8 1/2 minutes in, the song is nothing but an instrumental from then, but not all the way though. Here, the true die hard fans of BlessTheFall will find something very nostalgic. I’m referring to something that was in the end of album His Last Walk in 2007. Just seconds before the ten minute mark on the track, you will know, with two minutes remaining of this successfully produced album, that this band will never lose its signature composure.

- Kristen Waslufsky

Jack’s Mannequin – People and Things

Sire Records

Release: October 4, 2011

The history of Jack’s Mannequin front man Andrew McMahon is very intriguing and encouraging. He won over many of his current fans during the early 2000’s with his former band Something Corporate who featured a very similar sound to the music he is creating now.  After the break up of his first band, Andrew went on to create Jack’s Mannequin, but right before the release of their first LP Everything In Transit, Andrew’s world was rocked by some devastating news.  He had been diagnosed with a form of leukemia.  As many know he went through many days lying in a hospital bed and made a full recovery and was able to return to his passion of creating music and playing shows around the world.

Jack’s Mannequin’s third full length release People and Things is a happy medium between the first two of the bands records.  It has a great mix of the poppiness that was felt all over Everything In Transit, yet still the darker edge that made up the phenomenal record The Glass Passenger.  The first song and single from the album “My Racing Thoughts” is a great introduction to the music that will be found here.  The acoustic guitar backing Andrews phenomenal piano skills sounds great, especially combined with his very soothing voice.  It is a very relatable relationship song about when you have that someone in your life that can always tell when something is going on with you or when your mood is not the best.

This is a record that begins to just flow together and almost feels like one long continuous story, but I mean that as a true compliment.  People and Things is album that you can throw on when you just want to close your eyes and relax.  It would be a perfect collection of songs put on as you fall asleep on a hammock on a cool summer night.  “People, Running” is a stand out track for sure.  The steady drumbeat and Andrew’s moving lyrics along with his stellar voice, makes this one of the most enjoyable songs.

Another track that shines brighter than others is “Hostage”.  It is a song that sounds like it could be found on Something Corporate’s final release entitled North.  Andrew sings out with passion, “ I wont hold you hostage and I wont set you free.”  The closing song of the album “Casting Lines” is without any question my personal favorite found on People and Things.  I always feel like I enjoy Andrew’s music most when it is clearly driven by the piano and not out shadowed by any other instruments.  The piano takes the forefront of the track especially during the introduction and bridge of the track.

Jack’s Mannequin has released another consistent album full of pop rock gems.  It is quite clear that Mr. McMahon has not lost any of his songwriting or musical talent during his lengthy battle with his illness.  I will always be excited to hear that this man is creating new music and will remain eager to hear what he is making until the day he call it quits.  However, with the way music runs through the blood in his veins, I find it very hard to contemplate the idea of him not being involved in creating music in some way, shape, or form.

—-Chris B.

New Found Glory – Radiosurgery

Epitaph Records

Release: October 4, 2011

The undisputed kings of pop punk have returned with another phenomenal record to add to their expansive catalogue of releases.  New Found Glory is quite possibly the most consistent band in the entire scene. For just about 15 years now they have been releasing incredibly catchy pop punk gems, often with a hardcore edge.  This is a record that reeks of nostalgia for true fans of the genre.  New Found Glory brought their A game with Radiosurgery.

The album gets things started with the title track of the album.  A crunchy guitar riff along with Mr. Jordan Pundik’s signature vocals drives the song.  The simple yet very relatable chorus, makes this a solid choice for the first single and an introduction to the outstanding album.  The band also recently released the music video for the song, which looks like it was a blast to create and certainly ranks as one of the best videos the band has ever done.

One of the true standout tracks from this album is “Drill It In My Brain”.  Cyrus Balooki sets a great beat with his skills on the kit and really sets the pace for a ridiculously fun song.  The song features one of the only true breakdowns on the record, but the band keeps it very fresh and original.  The gang vocals sound very powerful as a crowd chants, “Nothing, will come between us again.”

“Im Not the One” is certainly one of the most infectious songs that the band has ever written.  The upbeat rhythm of the verses perfectly transitions into the captivating bounce of the chorus.  “Summer Fling, Don’t Mean a Thing” is another one of my choice tracks found on the record.  Chad Gilbert and Steve Klein feed off each other for the poppy yet distorted guitar riff.  The slightly overweight, but always entertaining and often shirtless Ian Grushka leads the verses with his smooth control of the bass guitar.

The album closes with the phenomenal finisher that is “Map of Your Body”.  The song does a great job wrapping up the album and closing things off with a bang.  The song transitions from  a fast paced punk track to a bridge that sounds like something you could slow dance to, all before slamming back into the original tempo of the song.  Well over a decade later, NFG is showing the genre that they still run the show and always will until the time comes when they decide to hang it up and call it day.  Hopefully that day is still far far away because no one does pop punk quite like New Found Glory.

—Chris B.