These Hearts: Yours to Take

I'm sorry, but I just can't imagine wanting to run out and buy this album. I'm sure this band has a growing body of fans, but I'm not one of them. Worse still, I really don't know how to provide reasons why someone might want to check it out. The biggest problem for me is that music like this—pop punk—seems to have a limited range, one that certain bands have learned to explore but don't seem to know or care that there are other styles out there. In my opinion, most pop punk bands have mastered a sound that simply has nowhere to go. It's formulaic and commercial.

Some readers may object to my negative tone. After all, commercial success isn't always that bad. Lots of great bands make plenty of money. Also, punk has never really has one definition that applies to every release. In response, all I can do is shrug my shoulders; no listener is obliged to like everything and this album just wasn't for me.

To be fair, I know more about pop punk than I'm letting on. I have family members who like it and I've heard more than a representative sample over the last decade. In fairness to my loved ones, then, I'll say a few positive things, lest I seem too arrogant.

Here goes: the music on this album is straightforward pop punk played with lots of energy and passion. These Hearts, unlike other pop punk bands, also experiments with some aspects of extreme metal by adding low-end riffs, grunts, growls, and something I'm just going to call "heaviness." At times, it isn't bad, but the parts don't work together as well as they should. These guys may a have a bright future in pop punk, but I'd suggest that they stop straddling the line between pop punk and extreme metal. If you like pop punk, this album succeeds more than it fails. If you don't like pop punk, however, this release won't change your mind.

Track Listing:
1. This is Love (Feat. Bert Poncet)
2. The inconvenience
3. Psycho
4. Miserable
5. Been Through Hell
6. Last Man Alive
7. Birds of a Feather
8. Undecided Story
9. War (Feat. Mattie Montgomery)
10. LOTR
11. Never Mind Me

Added: August 10th 2013
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2011
Language: english

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