Chief State are hailing from Vancouver, Canada and this is their first full length release. It consists of ten songs and the music is sweet and more modern influenced pop punk, melodic punk rock with some nods to the old school masters and forefathers to the genre. But, this one is a keeper, although I am not an avid fan of modern version of pop punk. The music is inspiring and uplifting, energetic and vocals are sweet and not too snotty and not too mellow, just like they need be for these bunch of songs. Backing vocal harmonies are nicely done, guitar work and melodies fit perfectly to the day to day lyrics garnered with some humor and auto irony. But, I can relate and find my highlights in Out For Me, Drown and Losing Sleep. This is a beautiful, nicely done pop punk record and I enjoyed every single minute listening to it.
Illinois has always been fertile ground for great melodic pop punk and punk rock so Real Friends are hailing from there and this e.p. contains three songs, one being an acoustic version. This is ultra melodic punk rock with pop punk sensibility which successfully mixes aggression of punk riffs with melody, harmony in multiple vocals and great lyrics. Always Lose is my favorite of these three songs and this little e.p. just engaged my appetite for listening to this band more and more. Now I am going to check out their other releases for some more quality pop punk.
I am sorry, but I have never listened to Only Liars prior to the release of this record. I will correct that mistake immediately. This one contains 12 songs of epic modern punk rock, read pop punk with uplifting and inspiring atmosphere and a touch of melancholy somehow traveling throughout all of the record length. Guitar work is well written, with dose of rock and pop influence behind basic punk rock riffs and mid tempo songs are real little jewels and bring back hope to me that modern pop punk still has bands worth listening to. Vocals remind me a lot of Billy Talent, maybe it is only me, but I heard lots of similarity and backing vocal harmonies are so sweet. Lyrics are personal with a dose of humor and irony like song called Nothing Says ‘Fuck Me’ Like Fall Out Boy(Alcohol You Later) hehe, but my personal favorites are songs like For A Friend, RIP and Storms. This is a good record for all of you who like such music. I like it.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 