Album Review

A Day To Remember – Common Courtesy

• 8th Oct 2013

After battling with Victory Records over the release of their new album and fans wondering if it would ever see the light of day, it was nice to finally see some new material emerging today from Floridian punks A Day To Remember. Always straddling the line between punk, pop-punk, hardcore and metalcore, on first impression Common Courtesy seems a more modest return to their roots and is more than worth the wait for faithful fans.

Jeremy McKinnon’s super-clean vocals shine right from the off, notably on ‘Right Back At It Again’ boasting a huge singalong chorus that’s sure to become a live favourite and it’s refreshing to hear ADTR’s much imitated brand of easycore being done well by the originators. There’s no doubt that this band still have what it takes to pen an enormous tune and it’s a credit to them that this release isn’t an anti-climax.

‘Sometimes You’re The Hammer’ explodes out of the compressed studio-background-noise intro into a brutal guitar assault beatdown and a heartfelt, angst-ridden middle eight that should satisfy the pit crew, followed up immediately by the darkly riffy ‘Dead & Buried’ with it’s highly authentic strains of hardcore. It’s still a surprise when the shards of saccharine choruses and vocals burst out of the oppressive verses, but that’s part of the charm – what ADTR manage to do with musical structure and genre-melding shouldn’t work, but somehow it does.

Never ones for style over substance, the songwriting has to be hailed on Common Courtesy as the prevailing overriding factor of making this a joy from start to finish – no amount of over-production or editing can hide sloppy songwriting, and thankfully there’s none to be found on this release. The stripped back acoustic of I’m Already Gone is a case in point, leaving no room to hide for lacklustre material, instead showcasing another string to ADTR’s bow with a Mumford & Sons tinged ballad that gives The Lumineers’ huge hit Hey Ho a run for its money, likewise on the sunshine swing of The La’s-esque ‘I Surrender’.

Overall, the seemingly slapdash arrangement of genres on Common Courtesy makes this release a slightly confusing listen, as the opening pop-punk salvo provides the radio friendly singles before the particularly brutal crush of ‘Violence’ and ‘Life Lessons Learned The Hard Way’ crash through the dividing walls of acoustic segments like runaway sixteen-wheel trucks. This all goes some way to illustrating just how diverse ADTR can be, with the r’n’b inspired soft-rock ballad of ‘End Of Me’ pounced on by the vicious strains of ‘The Document Speaks For Itself’ before a return to the Slam Dunk-friendly beer soaked singalong of ‘I Remember’.

Visceral, essential and eclectic – A Day To Remember are back and sounding better than ever.

Venue: Common Courtesy
Support Band: Self Release