A Day To Remember – ‘What Separates Me From You’
Having being catapulted into the stratosphere by 2009′s ‘Homesick’ (not in the least due to arguably the best sing-along intro of all time), A Day To Remember have returned with their fourth studio offering ‘What Separates Me From You’. The album, packed with familiar breakdowns and pop-punk elements, carries enough momentum to train wreck the band into the mainstream.
Opener ‘Sticks and Bricks’ is an unrelenting attack on the band’s critics delivered in the most vitriolic fashion imaginable. Jeremy McKinnon blends howling screams and soothing pop-punk choruses in signature style, alongside chugging guitars and enough open-string breaks to coax even the most unwilling of critics into an enthused headbanging. First single and second track ‘All I Want’ marks A Day To Remember’s experimentation with a poppier sound. It works remarkably, the simple hook of “keep your hopes up high and your head down low” destined to be the anthem of festivals to come.
It does seem at times that the band are inextricably stuck between deciding whether to be a pop-punk or a hardcore band. They’re remarkably talented in both genres, but the New Found Glory-esque ‘It’s Complicated’ and bruising ’2nd Sucks’ don’t sit awfully comfortably on the same record. That being said, some songs create a brilliant fusion of the two- such as the fantastically-titled ‘You’ll Be Tails, I’ll Be Sonic’, which trusts the classic ADTR formula (melodic chorus + screamed verses x breakdowns).
While A Day To Remember will still undoubtedly have their fault-finders, ‘What Separates Me From You’ is their only release with such widespread appeal. Both hardcore and pop-punk fans will find solace within its tracks, leading me to the thought that what separates ‘me’ – the band – from ‘you’ – the critics- will grow ever smaller.
- Beth
