The band never reached the atmospheric heights of some of their peers but they were always a favourite among noughties pop punk fans. Their simple chords, cheeky, romantic lyrics, and easy-going vibes saw them signed to Drive Thru Records in 2001. Since then, their sound hasn’t changed that much, and it’s great to hear some old school pop-punk that still sounds new and exciting.

Title track ‘Anyways’ ambles from start to finish with a simplistic melody less than three minutes long. It won’t make anyone say “Wow!” but it’s friendly on the ears and easy to listen to. Closer ‘Luck’ is almost twice as long, but unnecessarily so. It sounds like one of the slow songs from 2007’s ‘Islands’, but without all the fun bits in between.

Middle track ‘Quitter’ is a lot more exciting, with an energetic verse that bursts into action through racing guitars and bounding drums, and a chorus built to soundtrack teen movies. It picks up even more energy towards the end and at just over two minutes long it’s a perfect example of sunny American pop punk done well.

The band want us to remember why we loved them in the first place? Don’t rely on this EP. Wait for the sun to shine, stick on ‘The Best of Me’, and head down the skate park: then they’ll be your favourite band again.

KATHRYN BLACK

“I had stepped out of writing in TSL’s style for quite a while. I think that time gave me ample opportunity to cleanse my pallet. Eventually I started regaining my appetite for punk music. All of the sudden I was throwing on lots of Cloud Nothings, Desaparacidos and Joyce Manor. I was able to identify what aspects I had always loved about punk music and they reignited my desire to create it,” says vocalist and bassist Kenny Vasoli.

“Reproaching the band with this initiative allowed my writing process to flow with no resistance. Lyrically, I was able to vent all of the garbage built up in my psyche through an appropriate channel. I try to keep a peaceful and positive outlook throughout my life. That’s how I’d like to operate all the time, but occasionally life does pan out ideally. TSL songs have always been my place to vent, in hopes that others might share a similar human experience and perspective.”

[Source: Noisey]

The Starting Line’s Drive-Thru Records debut full length, 2002’s ‘Say It Like You Mean It’, will be released on vinyl via ShopRadioCast on May 27th as a double, etched vinyl. The 180gram vinyl will be available in green and blue variations, with 3 sides of music and an etched Side D.

Track Listing:

Side A
Up & Go
Given the Chance
Leaving
The Best of Me
A Goodnight’s Sleep

Side B
Almost There, Going Nowhere
Cheek to Cheek
Hello Houston
Decisions, Decisions
Saddest Girl Story

Side C
Left Coast Envy
The Drama Summer
This Ride
The Best Of Me (Acoustic)
Greg’s Last Day

Pre-order the various packages from http://www.shopradiocast.com/products/The-Starting-Line-%252d-Say-It-Like-You-Mean-It-2XLP.html

This is great news, and follows some pretty big albums shows over the last year or so, so it’ll be interesting to see how they get on and if any other dates appear.

The band had the following to say about the show:

“London you asked for it and we listened, we’re playing Say It Like You Mean It in its entirety. Only one show in the UK at The Forum London April 26th. Tickets are on sale Wednesday Dec 5th.”

http://www.facebook.com/thestartingline

http://www.facebook.com/thestartingline

Once inside the venue, my first time at Leeds Met, we wandered through the maze-like corridors trying to find another body to follow. Seriously, this place is like a rabbit warren with corridors twisting off left, right and centre. We finally found the bar (always important) and the top balcony, but with three top bands on the bill we all wanted to be on the floor, so a hasty shove and helpful nudge out of the way got us where the action is.

Sugarcult have put out the album of 2003 so far – a sharp, short blast of punk rock proportions that thrills with its sheer brilliance. Tonight Tim, Marko and co aren’t quite on top form and their set seems a little tired. Tim’s vocals expecially seem knackered, and it would maybe seem that their partying isn’t doing them any good. Still, we are all here to watch the boys go off and with drummer Ben out of rehab, the band show exactly why they are considered to be such hot property. ‘You’re The One’ and ‘Stuck In America’ induce mini mosh pits and the small venue soon becomes stiflingly hot and sweaty – a complete opposite to the Arctic conditions outside. The odd cover is thrown in for good measure to break the set up, but it’s the likes of ‘Hate Every Beautiful Day’, ‘Daddy’s Little Defect’ and ‘Saying Goodbye’ which carry things off spectacularly. Not quite up to the power of the ‘Start Static’ album, but their onstage antics are funny and engaging. ‘Pretty Girl (The Way)’ slows things down for a few minutes before the predictable moshathon for closer ‘Bouncing Off The Walls’ which sees half of Leeds go stir crazy. Either the chemists have run out of Ritalin or too many kids have been on sugar highs, as the kids pogo away to their hearts content. Sugarcult will certainly have won some friends tonight, but they weren’t quite as good as I’d hoped for. (7.5)

On the other hand, The Starting Line put on a 35-minute performance which blows everyone away. Having seen them last May it’s remarkable how brilliant this band has become in a live setting. Sporting what can only be described as a ‘bad’ haircut, frontman Kenny Vasoli holds the stage on his own, with guitarists Matt and Mike bouncing off each other, both physically and with some fantastic riffs. New and old songs sound fantastic, there’s enough energy here to keep a small African country going for a month and anyone with a pulse has their eyes fixated on the stage. ‘Up and Go’ is massive, ‘Saddest Girl Story’ immense and ‘Hello Houston’ as fun as anything on offer tonight. ‘Decisions, Decisions’ is even better than on record and ‘Left Coast Envy’ has the biggest singalong chorus, in my eyes, of the evening. Kenny, fills the stage with such a massive presence and with the band jumping about like their lives depended on it, it’s impossible not to fall in love with this band. Of course ‘Leaving’ gets the best reception as fans at the front temporarily take over vocal duties. Their ‘Say It Like You Mean It’ album may have been over produced, but check them out live and listen again – this is a fantastic band that are really going places. (9)

I’m going to get strung up and shot for this, but hear me out. Tonight, in my opinion, Reel Big Fish are lethargic, boring, predictable and not particularly funny. With an 80-minute set that dragged, I found myself looking at my watch every five minutes wondering when the band would stop playing the dirge from ‘Cheer Up’, an album which is their worst record by a long, long way. This is the third time I’ve seen RBF, once in support of each album, and this was by far the worst they’d been. For Aaron it seems playing is a chore and the jokes are awful, with drummer Carlos resorting to penis-in-mouth efforts that we all thought Blink had left behind in 2001. There’s the now routine ‘Dont Attack Iraq’ tirade and a homage to Matt Wong (which has been seen on every tour since 1886). But it’s the setlist that I just can’t understand. There’s no ‘Good Thing’, no ‘Trendy’, no ‘The Kids Don’t Like It’ and the vast majority of the ‘Why Do They Rock So Hard’ album is missing. Instead we get the terrible ‘Rock and Roll Is Bitchin’ and the not so great ‘Somebody Loved Me’. I’ll admit I’m an old-skool Fish fan, nothing will beat their ‘Turn The Radio Off’ record when everything seemed so fun, less forced and more spontaneous. It’s no conincidence that ‘Sell Out’ gets the best reception and when the band leave there’s a massive chant for ‘Beer’. Why? Because these two songs are essential, timeless ska-punk songs – and Reel Big Fish haven’t come close to matching them since. However, despite my little rant, the crowd love it. The kids skank away like it’s going out of fashion to the likes of ‘Ban The Tube Top’, ‘Where Have You Been’ (complete with trumpet!) ‘She Has A Girlfriend Now’ and the aforementioned ‘Sell Out’. But for me it’s dull. Maybe I’m getting old and past my best, but in my opinion (and before you all kill me it is my opinion) The Starting Line not only blew RBF off the stage, they did so in hurricane style. A very disappointing performance which left me grabbing their early stuff to listen to in the car on the way home in an attempt to salvage something. This was the worst of the three performances when I’d seen them previously by a long way. (6)

Maybe it was a one off, but I left a little dejected, very, very sweaty and feeling disappointed that a band I’ve loved for so long have become stale. Then I remembered how good Sugarcult and The Starting Line were and felt a little better. Two bands that I’d recommend to anyone – it’s fresh, energetic and exciting and they have something to prove. Something I fear Reel Big Fish maybe don’t feel they have to do anymore…

Paul

The anthemic opening track from their ‘With Hopes Of Starting Over’ EP, ‘Leaving’ kicks things off, and boy do TSL sound good. At first glance this is the identikit Drive Thru band the detractors claim – pop-punk at its singalong best – but The Starting Line do what they do very well. ‘Leaving’ is a great song and it’s belted out with enthusiasm. Vocalist Kenny is a star in the making, both a pin-up for the girls and a bona fide rock star for the boys. He has all the qualities of the perfect frontman, endless energy and a great voice. It certainly seems as though he’s paid close attention to NFG’s Jordan Pundik, as both know how to get the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. ‘Greg’s Last Day’, also from the EP, is blasted out with confidence and again is a hit in waiting.

The best song of the set award, however, goes to their stonking cover of Jennifer Lopez’s ‘I’m Real’. Featured on the ‘Punk Goes Pop’ compilation, and introduced by Kenny as “the way to cover rap songs,” the foursome burst into a powerful rendition, complete with rap-style verses and Kenny’s classic shout of “holler!” before the first verse. Not an easy song to pull off live, but not only do TSL do it with ease, they make it sound like their own song. They may be barely out of school, but The Starting Line play with a confidence and ability that belittles their youth. Single ‘Three’s A Charm’ goes down a storm, sparking a mini singalong by those at the front who are already familair with the band. Showing a more mature side to their songwriting, the song’s catchier than syphilis chorus sparks a mini riot and a sea of surfers in the crowd.

With their debut full-lengther due out in the summer, a couple of new tracks are aired and they sound great. One in particular sounded very anthemic and will certainly be worth checking out. The new-old song ‘Left Coast Envy’ is also bashed out with enthusiasm, with guitarists Mike and Matt bouncing riffs off of each other as if there is no tomorrow. After the gig Matt told me he thought they sounded bad…I assured him they didn’t. There is even enough time for New Found Glory singer Jordan to appear on stage and join in vocal duties on one track.

Things unceremoniously end with a triumphant version of ‘Cheek To Cheek’ with Nate Barcalow of Finch helping out in the vocal department. At the end of the song Kenny flies into a fit of rage, bouncing around the stage with reckless abandon before ending up in a heap on the floor, bass buzzing with feedback. Quite a way to end a brilliant set.

The Starting Line aren’t quite the real deal, but they certainly are not that far off. After their set they eagerly watched on as New Found Glory strutted their stuff, and under their watchful gaze TSL can go as far as they like. Certainly a band to keep an eye on this summer. And beyond…

Paul Savage