Album Review

Mixtapes – Even On The Worst Nights

• 26th Jun 2012

What happens if you exchange Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris in “crazy” body swap caper ‘Freaky Friday’ (or Lindsey Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis depending on your age bracket) with pop-punk stalwarts Blink-182 and punksters Bouncing Souls? It may seem like an odd question, and we certainly aren’t arguing otherwise, yet ‘Even on the Worst Nights’ plays out as if Tom DeLonge and company woke up one morning inside the band members of Bouncing Souls (get your mind out of the gutter). The Cincinnati four-piece take elements of the pop end of the spectrum and mix them into a healthy concoction of punk infused fun – fun being the overarching theme on this sophomore full release.

‘Even on the Worst Nights’ is particularly reluctant to slow the pace down, utilising the both-sexes dual vocals to compliment the unconcealed bouncy nature of the backdrop. Every hook is designed to draw the audience in, and every drum beat is created to encourage movement. The record almost dares the listener not to move, and successfully lifts the mood in any room. It is rare for punk to feel so unashamedly pop but avoid falling inside the commercial. ‘I’ll Give You a Hint, Yes’ includes the obligatory pop-punk “la-la’s” but sounds equally as credible as any traditional punk band. Whereas contemporaries often stumble into cheese territory, the composition of the record and the expertly delivered instrumentation firmly chain this in a contradictory maturity.

Mixtapes continue where they left off on ‘Maps’, and push the fun-factor further into overdrive. ‘Even on the Worst Nights’ is pop-punk without the pop or punk. Lying on top of the foundation created by the fast paced drums and infectious riffs, the vocal style and lyrics inject a level of uniqueness rare in modern punk. This is neither heavy nor commercial, shallow nor overtly deep, but rather the sound of a band creating a thoroughly boisterous and enjoyable record.