I first started caring about this band when I found out two of the members are fellow card-carrying members of the Church of Satan. They are making very catchy pop-punk with dark underpinnings. I have enjoyed everything I have heard from these guys in the past. but everything seems dialed in tighter for this album. Their melodic sensibility sometimes reminds me of Bad Religion if they were into the Addams Family instead of politics. The anthemic chords of "Versions of You" remind me of the Scorpions in places. With songs about being stalked by bulletproof robots, how can you go wrong?
There is a little more skip in their step on "Scars" but it's not happy enough pop-punk to become a deal breaker for me. They also experiment with some cool guitar tones. This is a really well-produced album, though not so much that it has all of the punk lost in the slick mix. The biggest influence from Matt Skiba's time in Blink 182 can be felt on "Shake With Me". The breakdown in the song's third act compensates for this. The title track is a break-up song of sorts, that is more of a personalized take on the album's larger theme of apocalypse culture.
The more matter-of-fact tone of "Broken Down in a Time Machine" finds them walking more of a pop-punk middle ground. It is not the album's catchiest chorus, but it works better than most punk we are likely hearing this year, as these guys came from another time when songwriting was king. The vocals are not obligatory yelling, but purposeful crooning. The album closes with "Teenage Heart" which coasts off of a more lingering tension. Lyrically the song takes the turn you might have hoped was coming, These guys play off the clever biting wit of the lyrics, which helps to set them apart. I will give this album a 9.5, it might not be the most rebellious or rowdy punk album you will hear this year, but it is going to be hard to beat the kind of presentation they have dialed in here.
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