Awww man, I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. The Higher released 'Histrionics' back in 2005 on Fiddler, yet I only managed to pick up a 'proper' copy of this record a few weeks ago. Imagine Cartel mixing it up with Saves The Day's 'Stay What You Are'-era, with vocoder's thrown in for good measure. Yup, eat your heart out Cher - can you believe, ahem, how good this band are? With a tonne of melodies and harmonies and plenty of upbeat moments to get the fists in the air and the hearts pumping, this is one of the best records I doubt you've heard - assuming you like your punk to be sugar coated in pop, that is.
'Diaries' gets things going in such a positive manner that the album's title track and the samples in 'Rock Your Body' will have you singing along in no time. And while the slower, quieter songs like 'Prepare For Something Else' and 'Case Closed' may border on going down that stereotypical 'emo' route, The Higher have the knack of being able to pull out a rousing anthem-in-waiting like 'In The Set' to get things back on track again.
While you could argue there's one too many acoustic songs on here (ironically matching the lyric "you can't write the same song over again" on 'Pace Yourself'), The Higher are certainly set for bigger things. Ditching Fiddler for the might of Epitaph, the only way for this band is up. And with bands like Panic! At the Disco having come up on the blindside, fans of bands like the Vegas boys and Name Taken will lap this up. In pop punk terms, there have been very few albums by US bands that are better than this one during the last 18 months. Check it out before their Epitaph debut seeks you out and hunts you down...
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