Pierce the Veil : 'the Jaws of Life"

 

This is a band I only know from the Punk Goes Pop series of tribute albums. Much like that series they strike me as being more on the pop side of the equation. Now five albums later the band has continued to shine their songwriting formula to create something that is catchier than it has any right to be. Having come on the scene at the end of the Myspace era, there is still that torch burning that they carry. Singer Vic Fuentes, has tenor voice that sounds like he is in high school. It is impressive that he has kept this youth vigor now that he is almost forty.  If Justin Beiber made metal the results might be similar. Which is better than it sounds on paper. "Even When I'm Not With You" has a really strong melody. The rest of the band knows to stay out of the way and let him do his thing. 

The riff to "Emergency Contact" feels almost like a Weezer song. Sonically they are also not far from My Chemical Romance's less grandiose moments. The emotional pleading of Fuentes sometimes has an androgynous desperation in it's timbre that makes me think of Placebo. "Flawless Execution" finds his voice squeaking a little higher. Normally this sort of thing would be too happy for me, but they make it work. The bass line is pretty cool to this one. The drummer from 3rd Eye Blind plays on this album, which it does feel like that until the title track, which is the first song that has a more 90s alt pop feel to the drumming. Produced by Mutemath's singer, this album sounds great. The title track is also the first song that did not feel like it lived up to what the first half of the album did, though it does not suck either.

"Damn the Man, Save the Empire" has a playful groove that works for what they do and lays the ground work for their singer to shine which is the most important they have going . Subject wise I think this album finds them getting morbidly reflective which might give the song's a slightly darker feel, that might factor in to why it resonates more with me. "Resilience" is more reflected, but lends it self to melody. They dip into Joji like pop with "Shared Trauma".  Could this become a Tiktok ear worm for that generation? Sure. It's not my favorite song on the album, but it works well for what they are doing. "So Far So Fake" is moodier. It took a second listen to digest it . The chorus is happier than expected perhaps like Silversun Pickups in this regard. "Fractures' minds me of the best things about having pop music cross over into emo and emo crossing into pop. I will round  this album up to a 10 as the smart song writing , and emotionally vulnerable singing makes a great combination for those who like the emphasis on pop melodies when it comes to rock music.