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Glasgow’s punk rock act The Day I Snapped have gained a large following
after some huge support slots with Offspring and All American Rejects, this
release, ‘Hooked On Disaster’ via Lockjaw Records hoping to
build upon their formidable live reputation.
The album begins with ‘Best of Times’, boasting typical energy,
and powerful, layered and distorted guitars, sounding not unlike early
Offspring work, With an awesome riff to get the head banging, adding an
extra edge to the track. ‘Fall Apart’ is a stomping track,
with synthesised verse vocals, all three vocalists competing to create
a large sound in the chorus. ‘September State of Mind’ is,
essentially, your typical emo-punk track. Lyrics about a broken relationship?
[check]. Chugging guitars? [check]. Americanised accents? [check]. This
would be a decent track had it not been written by every other popular
band of the moment.
‘History’, the stand out track, is another belter, if not
a little predictable, but I challenge anyone not to nod along to the pop
punk inspired vocal harmonies and Taking Back Sunday-esque rhythm and
tempo, I can image this is a live favourite.
After a slow intro, ‘The Law of Averages’ rumbles into an
up tempo punk tune, with high guitars, a low bass and apologetic lyrics.
More of the same follows on ‘The Damage is Done’, with Alan
Easton singing of more anguish to the backing of a heavy chorus with distorted
guitars.
‘Sorry Natalie’ is another slice of pop punk, tight guitars
providing the hooks, the rhythm section providing the thudding backbone,
a love interest providing the lyrical inspiration, this is an instantly
catchy tune, easily accessible to music fans of nearly any preference.
‘Breaking Things’ is every inch as catchy as ‘...Natalie’,
jumping straight into an irresistible guitar lick that re-occurs throughout
the track. The bass-driven verses providing the perfect compliment for
the sing along chorus.
‘Start Again’ is a pounding track, very much in the same vein
as ‘History’, with plenty of palm mutes followed by a rousing
foot-tapping riff, changing into up tempo punk rock then back again in
the blink of an eye. Penultimate track ‘Skyscrapers and Balconies’
continues the punk onslaught, with verses full of downstrokes, heartfelt
lyrics and harmonising backing vocals.
After a positive opening to the album, 6 or so tracks in I felt a strange
sense of déjà vu wash over me, as if all of these songs
had been sang before. Not that this isn’t a competent record, it
is a serious piece of work and would appeal to a lot of music fans, obviously
heavily influenced by the American acts knocking around at the moment,
it has many tracks full of hooks and lyrics that many people can relate
to, however i feel that these songs are being offered up by a lot of acts
at the moment and there just isn’t enough to make The Day I Snapped
stand out. TDIS obviously know how to construct a pop punk song that works,
the problem is that they don’t seem to test themselves enough throughout
the duration of the album, every song seems to follow the same structure.
Alan Easton’s vocals are strong and compliment the band’s
sound well despite lacking in any real originality he uses his voice well
to communicate the message. It is relatively simple to draw comparisons
with early Offspring, Senses Fail, Taking Back Sunday or any of those
type of bands, despite a few promising flashes of individuality, it is
difficult to point to any specific aspects that set TDIS apart.
If you take this record as it is, it is an impressive group of catchy
pop-punk tunes, held together with accessible lyrics, a high level of
musicianship and some satisfying riffs. However when grouped with many
of their peers work, the shine is taken off somewhat.
A competent
3/5
Review by Jack |
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| Band
Members |
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Alan Easton
Richie Bradford
Andy McFarlane
Craig Brennan |
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Listing |
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Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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