Rockfreaks.net

Mixtapes

Ordinary Silence

Written by: PP on 03/08/2013 15:08:57

Someone needs to sit down with Mixtapes for a serious talk. While it's awesome from a fan's perspective that the band keep releasing EPs and full-lengths at a rate of two or three records each year, the reality is that the consistency suffers, and in the end Mixtapes have a lot of decent albums with a few great songs on them surrounded by what is essentially filler material. That is also the case with "Ordinary Silence", which is released precisely one year after "Even On The Worst Nights" finally proved that Mixtapes are able to put together a collection of great songs on a single record.

Unfortunately, it continues the trend of the multiple EPs and companion discs of the past, in that there are a couple of awesome pop punk songs where the alternating soft male vocals and nasal female ones work wonders and once again convince this scribe that Mixtapes are one of those bands that's happening right now within this scene, but also a ton of songs which are just decent or feel meh in comparison, for the lack of a better expression. Where the high tempo of "I Think I Broke It" gives its juxtaposed male/female chorus a nice touch, the slower, semi-balladic delivery of "You Look Like Springtime" merely sounds like Mixtapes on autopilot, passing by without making much of an impression on the listener. It's a trend that exists throughout the record: whenever the band ups the tempo, their summery pop punk grooves hit home run like on "Cheapness", and whenever they don't, the flaws in both their vocal delivery and their arguably rather unoriginal sound become too exposed.

More worryingly, the songwriting on "Ordinary Silence" is essentially unchanged from their early material, which wouldn't be a problem if there was consistency in their songwriting. Alas, the record feels like it contains every single song the band wrote since their previous album, which is probably exactly the case. Coming back to my original proposition, someone really needs to talk them down from a release schedule as rapid as this one, so that they can write a bunch of songs, pick apart the weak ones, and release that instant pop punk classic they occasionally show they might be capable of writing.

Download: Bad Parts, Happy And Poor, I Think I Broke It, Cheapness
For the fans of: The Wonder Years, Lemuria, New Found Glory, Candy Hearts, The Winter Passing
Listen: Mixtapes

Release date 25.06.2013
No Sleep Records