I had this horrible feeling Farewell were going to go down the cheesy route and lace their new record with synth and keys. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy ‘Isn’t this supposed to be fun?’ but it was a little too keyboards-based and with the current trend for everything neon, I did wonder if Farewell would take the easy option and write an album steeped in what’s fashionable, rather than what’s actually any good.
I need not have worried. ‘Run It Up The Flagpole’ is pretty much devoid of keys altogether and sounds more like All Time Low than 3OH!3. Infact, I did think the band were on the verge of a Motion City Soundtrack-esque breakthrough but this album even moves away from their quirky sound. ‘Flagpole’ is just a fun listen with lots of really catchy songs. There are plenty of HITS on this album. ‘We All Fall Down’ and ‘Devoid’ will have you singing along straight off the bat, while ‘Rock on the Radio’ and ‘Sucker Bait‘ are just pop-punk gems.
There’s a bit of an early 2000s pop-punk vibe to this record too, some of the guitar riffs, in tone anyway, remind me of Green Day, while there’s a bit of a Blink 182 vibe too. Ultimately this is a no frills pop-punk record that has great song after great song. It doesn’t try and re-invent the wheel, it just rocks out in the best possible way – and will leave you with a massive smile on your face by the end.