Mall Punk goes to the Beach
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Newsflash: Yellowcard play cookie-cutter pop punk that is nearly indistinguishable from any of a dozen other bands reviewed in these pages. The gimmicky violin buried almost inaudibly in every mix notwithstanding, there’s little to set them apart. Except, of course, their inability to write anything less than giant, rock your face off choruses. All of that is on display here: soaring hooks, crunchy pogo-riffs, emo-light counterpoint vocal melodies, circular, ascending guitar/violin motifs and vaguely life-affirming lyrics like “I’ll never give up, no I’ll never give up.” Strangely, they sometimes lapse into a weird sort of modern rock karaoke here with Incubus affectations on “Light Up the Sky” or the Blink 182 vocals on “The Takedown.” Anyway, this record will still sound great at the mall, or at the beach, or -- even better -- at a mall near the beach! (Capitol Records; www.capitolrecords.com) Originally published in Alternative Press.
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