This Providence is straight from the school of poppy emo, following in the footsteps of a gazillion bands that want to be The Early November. Or at least sell as many records as them. If it’s not Sherwood or Waking Ashland (both bands have recently been snapped up by large indies), then there’s a multitude of other bands waiting in the wings to rack up a million Purevolume plays and snaffle a record deal. This Providence are another band off that mainstream conveyor belt, arsenal already loaded with enough radio-friendly ‘hits’ to make Britney Spears blush. But if I have one major vice in my life, it’s that I’m a sucker for a melody and This Providence‘s latest record, ‘Our Worlds Divorce’, is fucking loaded with them.
Yes, it’s about as original as Christmas, but there’s something so inoffensively lovely about this album that I really like. It’s a lot of fun, certainly better than the last The Early November record, which it tries too hard not to rip off yet inadvertently does end up sounding like its more melodic younger brother. Taking songs like ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ and ‘Best Wishes’ as best examples of soaring melodies, smooth vocals and very clean guitar parts, This Providence outdo most of the bands within the vast genre they currently sit in. Sure, it’s inoffensive and sugary sweet in places, but there’s a sense that this album is a lot of fun. Life-changing it may not be, but fun it certainly is.
What makes this record stand out amongst its peers is the fact that at least TP try and do things a little differently – there are some odd samples, even double-time drum patterns in one song, but I think when you put the vocals and the super-clean guitar parts together you come up with a winning formula. It makes songs like ‘To Kill This’ perfect for the soundtrack of The OC, and while that may be enough to make you want to stop reading now, it typifies a really cute and fun record that would be the soundtrack to your summer, if the sun were actually shining…
www.thisprovidence.com
Rocketstar Records
Paul