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From The Sidelines

Everybody Loves A Comeback

Written by: PP on 05/12/2012 22:21:02

From The Sidelines are an upcoming 'easycore' / pop-hardcore unit out of the Chicago area, which is probably why they also share a great deal in common with Fall Out Boy's "Take This To Your Grave"-era sound, especially on the vocal side. They basically offer a more simplistic, way more unpolished, and a wholly raw and bouncy take on Fall Out Boy's sound, mixed in with strong influence from bands like Me Vs Hero, Veara, With The Punches, Same As Sunday, and other similar units.

"Everybody Loves A Comeback" is their debut album, and it relies on some textbook pop punk ingredients alongside the more hardcore side of things. Bright, summery verse vocal melodies lead into catchy, admittedly slightly cheesy choruses and anthemic sing along passages (think Fireworks here), that often explode out of a crunchy breakdown or an unpolished pop-hardcore riff. Gang shouts and dodgy production is a given, but so are bouncy tunes and Patrick Stump-like vocal harmonies, so fans of the genre have plenty to go after here. They've even got some screaming going on during "If Only My Id Was Your Superego" - which has a very Fall Out Boy-ish chorus mashed in between the screamed verses.

That being said, "Everybody Loves A Comeback" could be massively better with a bigger production budget and improved songwriting. The songs are a little too loosely played and consequently sound amateurish in places, and the instruments aren't as clear in the mix as they probably should be. The band compensate their lack of tightness with catchy songs, so it's my opinion that once they get into a proper recording studio and develop as songwriters, they'll write a solid pop punk release.

Download: B-Side To Your Bedroom, Soul Of The Suburbs
For the fans of: Me Vs Hero, Handguns, Veara, With The Punches, Same As Sunday, Fall Out Boy
Listen: Facebook

Release date 03.07.2012
Self-Released