Album Review

Me Vs Hero – I’m Completely Fine

• 1st Sep 2014

Me Vs Hero are back with their sophomore record I’m Completely Fine. It’s been four years since the pop-punkers released their debut to the world, and after a few issues, they’ve come back with this self recorded effort. The title may be tongue in cheek, but the album is a serious attempt at getting the recognition that they thoroughly deserve.

It opens with the title track, a minute long stomper that doesn’t over stay its welcome, but it certainly gives a good indication of the theme and feel of the record. The 5 piece from Blackpool wear their hearts on their sleeves throughout. On ‘Skin And Bones’, vocalist Sam Thompson bellows “I think you forgot we’re all just people / just skin and bones / there’s nothing special hiding underneath those clothes”. They’re visceral in their condemnation.

Hand in hand with this, the guys still have their catchy choruses and all that makes a pop-punk album such. Heavy, quick drum beats atop a striding guitar riff. ‘Virtues’ is a perfect example of this, as the band work seamlessly together to make the song sound whole. There are examples of short and fast in tracks ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Truth (Interlude)’, both shy of a minute long.

‘Hang In’ is the acoustic ballad of I’m Completely Fine, and has Thompson not exactly crooning, but somewhere between singing and roaring, depending at the moment in time of the track. The closing moments of the song, as he and other members of Me Vs Hero roar self deprecating lyrics – a regular occurrence of the record, but the group effort here adds something more.

‘Things We Know’ is as close to A Day To Remember as Me Vs Hero will allow themselves to go, but the similarities are clearer to see here than in any other track of the album. Chugging guitars and screaming lyrics laded through a pop-punk song, it sounds like something out of Homesick. Only the accents differ, the quality the same.

One track which needs to be mentioned is ‘Heisenberg’, possibly the best that Me Vs Hero have produced yet in their career. It encompasses everything that the band are; a song that is far too catchy for its own good, a chorus that is crying out to be sang in a packed venue, wise and sorrowful lyrics over an amazingly cohesive guitar and drum work. And a breakdown thrown in to boot.

It’s been a four year wait, but Me Vs Hero are back. Many struggled to see how a band could bounce back from such a break, especially one following a debut record. Yes, the band have been making a name for themselves through relentless touring and their live show. But now it’s safe to say that Me Vs Hero are far from a one trick pony. And I’m completely fine with that.

Venue: I’m Completely Fine
Support Band: Self Released