Gig Reviews
Trophy Eyes
Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, DEN - 3/10
Album Reviews
I Call Fives
I Call Fives
Written by: RB on 14/09/2012 15:46:16
It seemed that the Pop Punk scene was going to fall into a message of obscurity. Long gone are the days of singing about how much girls suck and how a whole generation was never gonna get laid till their mid-twenties, but hello to a new message being preached by bands such as The Wonder Years and Set Your Goals singing about their own bleak outlook on life.
This was until I Call Fives. A five piece band that hails from the suburbs of Washington Township, New Jersey. A Pop Punk band who have released their self-titled album, with the sound and lyrics that resemble the old days of Pop Punk. For some, this band have only appeared on their radars since the release of their second EP "Someone that's not you", but they've been around since 2006 with many line up changes. It wasn't until their recruitment of recent vocalist Jeff Todd that they have really started to make waves amongst the scene.
Now with any Pop Punk album, you know you're going to get something that's going to be ridden with catchy choruses, upbeat guitar riffs and lyrics to go completely against the what they have produced musically. I Call Fives have created an album that does exactly what makes a decent Pop Punk record, the entire album keeps up with the consistency throughout. Never once do the songs falter and become boring after a fifth consecutive play through. This is an album showing off what Pop Punk was built on and that it's still relevant in today's music scene.
The opener Last Nights kicks things off with a riff that could fit nicely in a New Found Glory song and drums to back it up. It quickly becomes its own song though, with a catchy chorus that will get stuck in your head long after listening to it. It's not until track number 3, that I Call Fives really come into their own. The track I'm talking about is "The Backup Plan", a song that was recently released on their recent EP "Someone That's Not You". To me it was the most standout track on the EP and it fits perfectly on the album. I personally think that it has the most catchy chorus then any other track on the album, it's a chorus that easily speaks to most people and with the vocals of Jeff Todd belting it out, it never felt more real.
The only real problem that I have with this album is that there is a serious lack of slow songs. It seems that the band have decided that their fanbase doesn't want to kickback with an acoustic track. Now I would understand if they felt that acoustic tracks are filler but if you look at some of the most successful songs on recent Pop Punk albums, the acoustic tracks are the most loved. Especially since over recent years the scene has been hijacked by 15 year old girls wearing "I Heart Alex Gaskarth/All Time Low/Generic Pop Punk Band" t shirts. I feel that an acoustic song would easily grab their attention, and increase their fanbase along with their popularity.
It goes to show that musical influences from a decade a go are still needed and relevant in today's stagnant Pop Punk scene of self deprecation and hatred. If you want to go and revisit what Pop Punk was like a decade ago and discover some new music on the way, then I would definitely recommend I Call Fives.
Download: Late Nights, Backup Plan, Stuck In '03
For the fans of: New Found Glory, Set Your Goals
Listen: facebook.com
Release Date 10.07.2012
Pure Noise Records