As much as part of me wanted to really hate this little 3 track EP for wearing its unashamed emo influences on its sleeve, I found myself enjoying the punchy punk rock that is subtitled constantly with a contemporary Brand New/Rival School influence, mainly because there is a total lack of pretension, and all 3 tracks don’t sound like they’re trying to rip off whoever’s flavour of the month right now.
‘Wake Up’ verges on the melodic hardcore in the same vein as a lighter Strike Anywhere, and the energy of the track is by far its greatest asset. The riffs are constantly augmenting the main melody and it’s exciting to hear a young band playing with such a high level of confidence and aptitude. The mix between heavy stops and flowing punk rock is just right, and even when the pace drops on ‘Stacey’s Song’ it’s testament to the band’s abilities that it’s still recognisably Chasing Daylight – it’s not as if there’s a conscious drop in form or change in style, simply a different side to the same coin.
‘Better Days Ahead’ does slightly slip into self-indulgence, and is pitched as the middle ground between melodic punk rock and a more reflective, epic-sounding rock. They have a genuinely huge sound that is admirable in its complexities and apparent comfortableness, and as I said before there isn’t any ego or posturing within the lyrics or the music – have at you, Taking Back Sunday!
Even though this is precisely the kind of music I usually steer clear from, the meeting of the melodic hardcore (a personal favourite) and more palatable emo genres works wonders for Chasing Daylight and I’d like to hear more material just to make sure this isn’t a fluke. All in all it’s certainly promising, and if any band can get ME thinking ‘Hmm, that screaming sounds pretty good†then they must be impressive. Fact.
Ben