Four Year Strong – S/T Review
Posted: by Sean Gonzalez
Click here to STREAM the album.
Four Year Strong is back. Remember when people thought it must suck to be them? Well now it must be hard touring with them while they play any of these blistering new songs. There is nothing better than having a band continue what they started so long ago. Vicious guitar riffs and fantastic dual vocals accompany the new self-titled album from this band out of Worcester, Massachusetts.
I had the pleasure of walking three miles and having this new album on repeat to keep me company this morning, and all I could do was smile and even shed a few tears from how happy this new record made me. It all starts with ‘I Hold Myself In Contempt’ with the band sporting a groovy guitar riff and uplifting lyrics. It brought me back a few years ago when Enemy Of The World was first released. This new release was released at the perfect time, the sun is starting to shine more often and the speakers of the car are prepared to be blasting this album all summer long.
Four Year Strong is ambitious as ever. Finally we have new dynamics from a band that just did not put them together efficiently on In Some Way, Shape Or Form. Instead, we have tracks like ‘Wipe Yourself Off Man. You Dead’ and ‘Stolen Credit Card’ with soft intros that dive into reckless riffs and beats. The former song is one of the most melodic and familiar songs on the album. The guitars bounce riffs off each other without ever becoming to repetitive and resolves with a destructive breakdown that outshines most metalcore bands. The latter songs starts off shaping the progression before blasting off into the chug chug riffs with joyous amounts of melody. ‘Who Cares’ is probably one of the shining stars on the album with its breakneck pace and fantastic guitar riffs.
One of the biggest attractions to Four Year Strong has been the way they can blend poppy beats with the mentality of the pop-punk scene. ‘Here’s To Swimming With Bow-Legged Women’ is a perfect example of the great atmosphere the band provides. The chorus features thick distorted chugs with catchy melodies from both vocalists. As the song builds both Alan and Dan are spewing out their lyrics with as much passion as possible, giving weight to the song.
I was a little nervous about having ‘Go Down In History’ as the album closer since it is a year old now, but it really worked. My only complaint with it is that the previous song ‘The Sound Of Your Heart’ sounds and feels more like a closing track because of it’s extended ending that might drag on a bit long, but that is probably my only real complaint of Four Year Strong. Four Year Strong are showing that easycore is still a fun genre to rock out too. Caution, this album might make you wear a flannel and grow an amazing beard.
