Same As Sunday

Earn Your Stripes EP

Written by: PP on 18/10/2010 22:27:38

You guys remember how about a year and a half ago the scene suddenly got bombarded with a ton of awesome pop-hardcore bands recalling the rough, unpolished days of pop punk? The bands that took the original New Found Glory sound, injected it with a dose of hardcore and downed the pedal for some genuinely fun times. I'm talking of bands like The Wonder Years, Fireworks, With The Punches, Handguns, old Set Your Goals record and so forth. Well, one band whose EP I happened to review last year was Same As Sunday, who threw originality out the window and focused on honest, gimmick-free songs that sounded just like their inspirations, only a little worse.

That was more than a year ago, however, and this band were clearly a work in progress back then. Today, they're gearing to release a new EP called "Earn Your Stripes", and I'm pleased to report that not since the With The Punches EP have I heard a pop punk/hardcore hybird as summer-y, refreshing and as fun. This band were always high on energy, but now their songs are even bouncier, and you can really hear that the guys are having so much fun while playing the songs on the record. And that, my friends, catches on like the plague....except whereas you wouldn't want to contract plague, you definitely want to check out a few (or all, preferably) of their poppy hardcore pieces. The opener "Roads? Where We're Going, We Don't Need Roads" is both hilarious and a mad-catchy sing along anthem, where the gangshouts are perfectly placed and add an extra degree of heavy to their crunchy, guitar-driven sound. And if it's A Day To Remember-style pop-breakdowns you long after, "Exits And Entrances" finishes off with a breakdown that wouldn't feel out of place on a deathcore record after starting off with textbook New Found Glory worship. Even the piano-supported "The Opposite Of Two" launches into trampoline-style breakdown and nice melodic leads that are just irresistible.

So basically the gist of "Earn Your Stripes" is this: forget everything about originality, but replace it with top-of-the-league choruses and, seriously, more fun than you'll have had all year long. When all the songs are this good, you don't need to be worried about sounding like a derivative band, even though that's undeniably the case here. People are bound to make their way to the live shows to dance, sing, and mosh along to tracks like these. Great EP, nothing less.

8

Download: Roads? Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads, Exits And Entraces
For the fans of: With The Punches, Handguns, The Wonder Years, Fireworks
Listen: Myspace

Release date 26.10.2010
Self-Released

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.