You Can Be My Wave

Massachusetts pop metallers Four Year Strong are back with possibly their heaviest record to date. The riffs are meaner. The guitar squeals are nastier. The gruff hollers sometimes transform into harsher screams. The band even seems to be re-embracing the fundamental component of the metalcore genre, the breakdown. Despite the heavier veneer, the band still maintains its sickly sweet pop aesthetics with their typical guitar heroics, approachable lyrics, and sing-a-long choruses. The two-pronged vocal attack of Dan O'Connor and Alan Day is also as effective as ever. I will admit, I wasn't sure at first whether I was on board with analysis paralysis. I think Four Year Strong's weakness continues to be their lyrics as they come off focus grouped, like recycled clichés, essentially not having very much substance to them. Coupled with the return of the predictably arranged, over-the-top breakdowns and their respective call-outs, I wondered whether this was perhaps a little too corny for my tastes. However, at some point, I think I let down my guard and allowed myself to see it for exactly what it is; a fun, wild, and aggressive rock record.

The band says "we're so back" with the industrial-tinged opener aftermath/afterthought. Sinister pulses of synthetic bass give way to a bouncy syncopated groove. Fancy guitar harmonics and runs are sugary enough to break the tension, but only for a spell as the band finishes with a crushing breakdown that has just a bit of deathcore seasoning. uncooked was another highlight, taking a queue from Turnstile and giving an 80s thrash punk song a more modern, punchy presentation. I love the speedy pace as well as Day and O'Connor's calls that will surely incite their show attendees. The post-chorus offers a bit of a dreamy reprieve, and the quarter-time breakdown screams "jump the fuck up." daddy of mine is a full-on metalcore tune á la Every Time I Die, quite a shocking first listen as I don't think I've ever heard Day and O'Connor scream this aggressively for such a sustained period. They're really giving it their all and manage to pull off a track of this intensity rather convincingly. I love the key and tempo detour in the middle and almost wished they rode out the rest of the song in this fashion; or at the very least found a more creative way to jump back into the song's original cadence. My favourite song happens to be rollercoaster, a very dynamic track that alternates between these floating passages that just include vocals and a distant clean guitar, and some punchy grooves that provide space for a series of insane guitar lines. Day and O'Connor pull out every trick in the book: pitch shifting chaos, dive bombs, harmonics, etc. This song is also another example of the band toying with their audiences; interrupting the song to play a quick snippet of the Ohio Players' Love Rollercoaster before going into one of the most absurdly discordant breakdowns I've heard in recent memory.

As is typically the case with just about every Four Year Strong record, there were a couple misses for me. maybe it's me severely lacks the bite or urgency when compared to other tracks. The guitar work, the vocals, or the production style doesn't really elicit any sort of excitement whatsoever. The lead single dead end friend features one of Four Year Strong's weakest choruses lyrically, and the song's only redeeming quality is its main riff. Probably my least favourite of the collection is STFIL. It is terribly melodramatic, I don't much care for the sentiment of the song, and I feel like it also struggles to find a coherent direction. The beginning is rather ethereal before your traditional rock instrumentation is introduced, albeit in a fairly sedated state. Then when the punchy drums and guitar distortion kicks in, it feels like the band is overcompensating for such an awkward first leg. The breakdown especially feels out of place; one of the heaviest and nastiest breakdowns on the record feels like a temper tantrum in this context rather than a genuine release of anger and aggression. It's disappointing to see a band like Four Year Strong, having the formula for success, and yet continuing to spoil their albums with these unfortunate misadventures.

Even with a couple duds, I think Four Year Strong managed to put out one of their stronger records. I think the band were alluding to a shift to a heavier lane on Brain Pain, but on this record, they seem to be going all in. I'm enjoying this more overtly aggressive side of the band even if the trade off is an output that is perhaps a little predictable or trite. Going forward, I would like to see the band continue in this heavier direction, although with some more inspired lyrics and perhaps a more original re-imagining of the hardcore formula.