Never Be Taken Alive,
Count The StarsYes, that does read 4-stars and yes I know I should expect a barrage of abusive reviews for giving it such a good score. But the simple fact is that I like Count The Stars. Yep, it's generic pop-punk, yep it's been done before and yep it's cliched, but so what? The songs are catchy, fun and make me want to listen to them over and over again. In a time when everyone wants to wear a sweater, sport glasses and cry their eyes out, sometimes it's nice just to put on a no-frills pop-punk record and just rock the fuck out.
Victory Records have been slammed for putting this out because it's not like any of their other bands, but since when has diversity been a bad thing? Count The Stars are a four-piece that owe as much to New Found Glory as anyone else and I can understand that a lot of people will merely dismiss them as flavour of the month. But there is an irristable charm about some of these songs that has me reeled in hook, line and sinker. And it seems a lot of people would agree with me - in the US this is rapidly becoming one of Victory's fastest selling records without any TV or radio play in site. There are reasons why.
At 13 songs and exactly 38 minutes in length it's perfect summer listening. From the opening perky 'Brand New Skin' to the first single 'Taking It All Back' there is palm-muting aplenty and more catchy choruses than ass-shakes in a Destiny's Child video. Chris Kasarjian's vocals fit perfectly around the bouncing melodies as the aforementioned opener chops and changes around a buzzing riff, while 'First Time' will have you bopping around like your feet are on fire. There's a charm to Count The Stars that I can't quite figure out. It's like you shouldn't like it because 'dude, pop-punk is sooo last year', but I personally can't help it.
Of course there are borrowed bits that sound very familiar, the riff to 'Taking It All Back' has surely been used by every punk band ever and the production is very glossy, but when the sun shines it's a great sounding record. It's unashamedly poppy but then you do know what you are in for when you put it on. 'The Difference' sounds similar too but it's another track which just suckers you in, while the chugging 'Right Behind Me' is a track which will have you tapping along in no time. Even the two slow songs, 'Pictures' and 'All Good Things', have a natty hook that I can't resist. CTS are almost drug-like in their addictiveness - maybe there should be a health warning on the front of this record like "do not listen if you want a life for the next thre months."
Yes it's all a bit predictable but I'm a sucker for a good pop-punk band and some of the songs on here are anthemic. For me it's the second best pop-punk record released this year behind Sugarcult's 'Start Static' - it's fun, has plenty of singalong hooks and when I'm in need of something a bit disposable, I know I can put this on and wind down. There are a lot worse pop-punk bands currently treading the boards and if you're of that persusaion I would heartily recommend this album.
www.countthestars.com
Paul
