Not seeming to want to feel left out, A LOSS FOR WORDS have joined the ranks of “hyped” pop-punk outfits releasing a new album in the latter stages of 2011.
‘No Sanctuary’ is a long overdue full length (that isn’t full of covers) and sees the band carry on prolific, quantitative release form, but whilst it’s impressive that they’re doing well keeping up with the Jones’ of SET YOUR GOALS, THE WONDER YEARS, POLAR BEAR CLUB, TRANSIT, MAN OVERBOARD et al, they may struggle a little to stand out from the crowd.
Despite not being even slightly awful, ‘No Sanctuary’ doesn’t really come across as groundbreaking, and whilst there are a few bands that can get away with this based on execution alone, A Loss For Words most likely aren’t one of them. In a year with so many strong releases, putting out something that comes off a little lazy seems counterproductive – there’s plenty that will love ‘No Sanctuary’, but there’s a few too many melody and structure cliches and it feels a bit patched together in certain places.
That said, and a few listens in, ‘No Sanctuary’ carries a charm, and the songs do come into their own eventually. A Loss For Words have a bit of a rough ride of it so far as a band, and though stylistically it’s all over the place, the album is like hearing a big sigh of relief on their behalf.
It’s likely that this isn’t going to be the band’s opus, but you get the feeling that they’re on the edge of doing something great, and there’s enough that will take to ‘No Sanctuary’ to keep them right on track.
TOM AYLOTT