March 2022, Breathe Atlantis, Eichlers, Placebo and Set it Off
Breathe Atlantis - Overdrive (Arising Empire)
I’ve always heard a lot of hype around this band so I really wanted to give this album a fair shake. After a couple of singles I wasn’t really seeing the excitement and now that I’ve heard the album I still don’t really get it. I’m not saying Breathe Atlantis isn’t a good band or even that they don’t have talent because I believe the proficiency is there. However I’m not seeing much of a difference between this, the last Of Mice & Men record or any album in this lane of metalcore from the past few years.
Eichlers - My Checkered Future (Bad Time)
Was really looking forward to this “hyperska” record based on the implication of its sound and the community hyping up of the project in general. The music itself is in no way a disappointment being a general good vibe to listen to and at a twenty minute length feels both like a breeze but also that it’s gone way too soon. That being said I wish it stuck to the implied theme a bit more. Most of these songs are simply mellowed out hyperpop with very bare ska influence and I wish there was more representation of both genres as a whole.
Placebo - Never Let Me Go (Rise)
Got to have a pretty special experience listening to this record for the first time where I listened to it with a friend whose favorite band is Placebo. We didn’t really talk through it just kind of let it all sink in and while it wasn’t their first time listening to it they invited me to just make little comments at the end of the tracks themselves. We both had this expectation like it was going to be a record that was just fine and a band well past their peak releasing music for the first time in years just to generate some form of resurgence. That prediction was correct, however! There is an incredibly strong four song run from “Try Better Next Time” to “Chemtrails.” The latter of which has these incredibly spacey synth lines and this narrative of being fed up with the life you’re currently living and wanting some form of refreshment. While I’m not sure I can recommend the entire record I would implore you, if you were ever a fan of that 90s radio scene, to listen to those four songs. You might just get the sense you got back then.
Set it Off - Elsewhere (Fearless)
I’ve been a pretty big fan of this band since my youth and in recent years I’ve started to ask myself why. It started to feel like a guilty pleasure and on every album cycle I find myself anticipating the newest release to be the one I finally hop off from. That being said, I do enjoy this album a whole lot and I finally get all my reservations and enjoyment. Lyrical miracle rapping, very corny pop rock cliches in songwriting and lyrics that are so general you could relate them to everyone on Earth are normally things I’m turned off by. In a radio rock band, when they do these things, it feels disingenuous. It will land with a certain camp of listeners and you can almost hear the fact that it’s a cash grab. When Set it Off does these things they’re so confident in them. I believe it sounds cool because they believe it sounds cool. They write music they want to hear. So I’m sold for another record and can’t wait to catch them live this month.
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