Columbus are a three piece punk band from Brisbane Australia who have spent the past couple of years releasing a couple of EP’s and touring across Australia as much as they can including their most recent tour in June which saw them support The Ataris on their headline run of dates in Australia, after releasing their debut EP ‘Sad Songs And Sing-Alongs’ in 2013 and ‘EPHome’ in 2015 Columbus are now gearing up to release their debut studio album ‘Spring Forever’ in UNFD Records on the 26th August.
I have been lucky enough to have had ‘Spring Forever’ for a couple of weeks now and I have been listening to the album on heavy rotation ever since and I am happy to say that it is one of the best pop-punk albums I have heard this year so far, it’s fast fun, catchy, anthemic and overall a really enjoyable diverse listen and if you are a fan of bands such as The Wonder Years, Neck Deep, State Champs and early The Ataris then you are going to love this debut offering from Columbus.
The album kicks off with ‘Summer Dress’ which is a pin point perfect summer pop punk anthem with front man Alex Moses opening things up with his extremely accessible vocals and then moments later the rest of the band come in with bouncy bass lines, soft drum beats and energetic guitar riffs.
‘Daffodil’ opens up in a more upbeat way as Columbus take us on an massive infectious journey which really takes the airwaves by storm as the super hooky chorus kicks in with Alex Moses singing loud and proud “You mean more to me than anything, but sometime sI can’t help but think if you’re a daffodil, maybe I am making you wither’.
‘Raindrop’ continues the upbeatness of the album and is another perfect slice of pop punk which flows ever so well and is one of those songs that has the knack to get lodged into your head after one listen yet one listen is not enough as you find yourself listening to the song again and again whilst enjoying every second of it.
‘Learn To Swim’ is easily one of the best songs on the album and opens with Alex Moses singing out “And I’ve never smoked a cigarette” and as the song flows he touches on subjects of personal struggles and the general struggles of life, instrumentally the song is top notch and overall the song writing shows just how good Columbus are at penning stand out songs.
‘Say What You want’ opens with fast paced guitar riffs which are then followed on seconds latest with the fastest set of vocals the album has to offer from Alex Moses as he takes us on an infectious journey for the next 3 minutes.
‘Nervous Wreck’ sees the band tone things down for just over 3 minutes and it shows a totally different side of the band as they take us on an mature laid back acoustic ride and it works extremely well as Alex Moses sings his heart out in such a raw way.
The likes of ‘Hopeless’, ‘Broken Glass’, ‘Stay’ see’s the band knock out some more well executed pop punk anthems whilst ‘Absent’ reminds me very much of The Ataris when they were at their peak, and album closer and title track ‘Spring Forever’ perfectly finishes the album.
Overall ‘Spring Forever’ is a solid debut album and one that Columbus should be proud of as the album is well written, lyrically quite sad yet musically very upbeat, the band are already causing a stir across Australia and will soon be coming to the UK to support the likes of Roam and Like Pacific which promises to be one hell of a great tour.
5/5
Review by Trigger
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