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Act As One

The Goodtimes

Written by: PP on 10/01/2013 23:37:41

Michigan based pop punks Act As One sounded near-identical to Set Your Goals on their debut album "No Looking Back" two years ago, just with less spirited enthusiasm and bouncy energy, which made that record decent but kinda meh in the end. "The Goodtimes", like its title implies, is a big improvement on all fronts, and presents the band as one of those party bands that are just plain fun to listen to. They have a modern sound with plenty of raw crunch in the guitars, and impossibly catchy choruses as is the norm in modern pop punk, but most importantly, they've started to steer themselves away from simple copy-catting into an identity of their own.

Keyword here is started, however, because the band still sound a heck of a lot like "Mutiny!"-era Set Your Goals. The difference this time around is that they've sneaked in strong New Found Glory references in the form of straight up pop punk. Yes, most songs still have a breakdown or two in place and gang shouts to firmly place them in the pop-hardcore category, but the vast majority of verses are sung with a nasal pop punk style that should bring to mind both Jordan Pundik of NFG and his younger counterpart in Hold Tight!. It somehow gives their songs a better flow.

The album's best tracks are loaded towards the second half of the record, with "Forgive And Forget" offering a textbook definition on how to write an awesome high-energy pop punk song with irresistible chorus (here extremely SYG-like, though), and "Charlie Was A Party Ma-Sheen" throwing around some NFG-style vibrant guitar riffs over sugar-coated vocal melodies. These will be a blast live, for sure. Consistency is still needed, however, because especially the beginning is a little too heard-it-all-before. That can be okay in some instances, but then they need to sound way more fun, almost over-enthusiastic even to overcome the generic factor. Fortunately, they do that often enough to warrant a good rating.

Download: Forgive And Forget, Charlie Was A Party Ma-Sheen,
For the fans of: Set Your Goals, New Found Glory, Hold Tight!
Listen: Facebook

Release date 03.04.2012
Capeside Records