Album Review

Mayday Parade – Anywhere But Here

• 27th Sep 2010

On Mayday Parade’s official website, over 150 fans have proclaimed an affinity with the songs on this re-released record – that’s more than four times more comments than their two previous releases have attracted. Perhaps it’s because emo is far from dead; but the lyrics do paint an accurately painful portrait of teen heartbreak that both current adolescents and those of us who are beyond those awkward years can relate to ( – vocalist Derek is reported to have written earnest opener and current single ‘Kids In Love’ about his own experiences of being seventeen).

The first single taken from the album, ‘The Silence’ is darker and heavier than their older material; laden with despair, it’s impossible to ignore. It does not offer the band’s customary relief of a pop chorus or catchy riff but ploughs on with genuine emotion and powerful, aggressive guitars. Alongside this gut-wrencher sit beautiful ballads such as the spine-tingling ‘I Swear This Time I Mean It.’ To boot, there are vintage Mayday Parade upbeat moments. ‘Get Up’ and its impassioned bridge and chorus is guaranteed to lift your mood while dance-floor anthem ‘Center of Attention’ will make you dial up the volume and, at the very least, tap your toes to the beat.

The structure and finesse of these tracks (which could be accredited to the produce, David Bendeth, who has worked with pop-punk superstars Paramore) reveals a new maturity, while still capturing the bittersweet growing pains we all encounter in life. Have Mayday Parade surpassed Woody Harrelson’s ‘Zombieland’ character to become the coolest thing out of Tallahassee?