Review: WAS HERE by Stand Atlantic released via Hopeless
Love them or hate them, Australia's Stand Atlantic are here to stay. The band have come a long way from their smaller pop punk roots, 2022's f.e.a.r. saw them veer slowly into a more mainstream alternative sound and with this new record, WAS HERE the transition is seemingly complete. My personal relationship with StAt has been a rollercoaster, 2020's Pink Elephant was the first ever blog recorded album of the year but from there I started to lose interest. F.e.a.r., to me, was a little too unconfident sonically and used comedy as something as a crutch for this. Going into this new record I was worried we'd go down even more in quality, but I am pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoy this.
From the opening notes of the record its clear StAt are done half committing. We all joke about Octane-core but in reality it feels like to get radio play coming from this genre you have to give up a lot of personality but StAt have made this work in their favor. "WAKE UP-SIT DOWN-SHUT UP" has a blend of nu metal and synthop but still displays Bonnie Fraser's cynical lyricism. They've totally embraced the change they weren't ready for.
On Bon, as a front woman her style has become much more honest. On "NOSE BLEED" she talks about a relationship which constantly goes up and down, something she absolutely would have snuck a joke in about before, but now the bluntness is the entire track. On "LOVE U ANYWAY" she goes all in on the traits of a partner which frustrate her deeply but reaffirms they all make up someone she loves. The song "ROCKSTAR" sees her go all in on egocentric members of the community she now finds herself in only one record after entering this new world. The most admirable of these is "17," where Bon recounts an abusive relationship from teenhood. The band also composed catharsis here where she screams "I wish we never fucking met" over a full on break down in a lane of heavy music we haven't seen from them quite yet.
But, outside of "17," and with the exception of two other cuts the singles are pretty much the best songs. It's not so surprising given the WAS HERE rollout was over a year, there were eight singles and, again, this is where StAt got a lot bigger as a band. Another leftover surprise is "KISSING KILLER KOBRAS" a more fully realized nu metal song with some tough guy aggression to the lyrics. The following "WARZ0NE" carries this on so it's an intended moment on the album.
Like any Octane-adjacent record StAt invites quite a bit of guests to WAS HERE and they’re all about as memorable as you could predict. "GIRL$" is exactly what you would expect from a collaboration between artists on this type of record and yet it goes over so well. I'm not at all familiar with Bruses and they do a proficient job here but also sort of blend in with the track. Lynn Gunn, on the other hand, is a wonderful opposite to Bon as both play similar roles in the community so it's nice to see them sing together. A Sueco feature almost comes off as mandatory and he turns in a performance about as exciting. None of these features come off quite as heinous as Polaris on "CRIMINAL." Which is the most flavorless, by the numbers metalcore track and sees StAt take a severe step backwards into using "here's your fuckin' Happy Meal" as a mosh call. It encapsulates, in one track, what made the last album so weak in the first place.
I came into this record expecting it to be very corporate but find Stand Atlantic in a better place than where they left off. Lately it feels like as bands launch into the radio rock sphere, they do so by sacrificing themselves completely but there's still a lot this band has to offer. While sprinkled with some over the top pop branding I'm happy StAt have found success and feel this is the first chapter in where they're supposed to be in the industry.
Comments
Post a Comment