May 27, 2012

paulo February 17, 2010 Really enjoying the Team Me song! Plus your csirapmoons of them are for four bands that I love- that never happens!Really must pay attention and try and listen to the various songs in these MAP posts, but it's hard to find the time (unlike your spotify blog/links, which are just so easy to save for later and then listen and either love or dismiss there and then).Plus, I really need to find myself some more good Norweigan music. Denmark, Iceland and Sweden seem to get so much love from me, but not so much poor Norway or Finland!

My favorite album!

Forever the Sickest Kids struck a chord with me when I first heard their Television Off EP in 2007, because as far as I was concerned, they were trying to be something different than all the other All Time Low imitations floating around at the time. There was an obvious 1980’s influence on the keyboards, a disco feel to songs like “Becky Starz”, as well as a contemporary acoustic pop-rock sound to “Believe Me I’m Lying”. When the band released Underdog Alma Mater in 2008, it was obvious that they were trying to do the same thing as the year before, but to no avail, the album being a 50:50 killer to filler ratio. And then there was The Weekend: Friday EP in 2009, which I’m sure everyone knows the story of: the failure of the auto tuned-radio-pop, the “part 1 of 3” sound that ultimately led to the creation of the latest self titled release, Forever the Sickest Kids. I’ve found on first listen that this record is a standard, breezy album full of pop punk anthems, gang vocals, pick slides, and 80’s reminiscent synths/keyboards. But my second drive thru brought me new meals. “Keep on Bring Me Down” is a pure anthem, not unlike “Whoa Oh” off Underdog, or perhaps “Do or Die” of The Weekend. It’s definitely the predetermined lead single off the record. But as I progressed through the record, I began to notice something different, that maybe the band were trying to make up for the mistakes that were The Weekend, granted, “Robots and Aliens” could almost be “Hawkbot Part 2”. “I Guess You Can Say Things Are Getting Pretty Serious” is the song that should’ve been track one, that underrated song that gets disregarded because it’s different, sounding like a Mayday Parade song that could’ve been on Anywhere But Here, and is the first indicator that the keyboards are losing their power to the crunchy guitars and riff-laden bass lines. “Life of the Party” is, in my opinion, crossing the line between good music and any non-passable number of The Weekend, mixing auto tuned vocals with synth heavy pop chord progressions. It’s undoubtedly one of the songs that was going to be on The Weekend: Saturday, before they ditched that idea. Then we gladly move on to the awesome “King For a Day”, which blends their unique sound with a Red Car Wire popcore-ish sound, and spits it out as a punk smoothie. That said, “Good Life” is a bit of a pop-rock filler, with A Rocket to the Moon-like guitars and easy vocals. “Same Dumb Excuse (Nothing To Lose)” sets the standard for the band in their future releases, mixing their well known sound of now with a light but refreshing synth part, combined with great vocals and a typical techno beat. However, that is only to say that the band is going to continue in their heavy electronic instrument reliance, with which the epic anthem “Bipolar Baby” makes no sense—this is pure pop punk quality, and should be the sound that the band return to on their next album. And now, into the final piece of the puzzle. “Summer Song” sounds like something that could’ve been on The Maine’s Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, but it’s still a good little number to prepare us for the last two gems that are “Forever Girl”, and “What Happened To Emotion? (Killing Me)”. “Forever Girl” is a powerful, emotive acoustic ballad that sits nicely in its spot on the record (with no auto tune!!!), and its climactic finish leads directly into the album closer, “What Happened To Emotion? (Killing Me)”—Deep, booming drums, choral choruses, menacingly distorted guitars, swirling piano melodies, and even a synth part in the middle verse, at its most prominent place. Gang vocals polish off the bridge, and the final chorus explodes with raw emotion that questions exactly just how powerful people can consider Derek Sanders’ song writing skills to be. Forever the Sickest Kids is definitely worth a listen or two, (or even more), and portray’s the band as a force to be reckoned with among not only the continually rowing pop-punk scne, but also their fans, who may grapple with the experiment that this album, as a whole, seems to be. It’s certainly given me incentive to wait for the next chapter in the band’s story, as it gives the listener an honest depiction of what Forever the Sickest Kids have to offer, and what they have to offer is something worth waiting for.

I definitely prefer Underdog Alma Mater, but this is much better than The Weekend: Friday, which in my opinion only had one decent song (She Likes). I'd say the best songs on this album if you're feeling slightly serious are: Keep On Bringing Me Down, Forever Girl, What Happened To Emotion? (Killing Me) If you're looking for happier, summery tracks: Bipolar Baby, Good Life, Summer Song. Either way, I still love the band. Oh and this bit made me smile, great line - '...the sort of guys who show up to weddings in Nike Dunks and have a collective Peter Pan complex larger than their home state of Texas'.

After The Weekend: Friday I wasn't expecting this album to be that great. I was obsessed with Underdog Alma Mater, but didnt think that the band could live up to the high bar that they set. When I bought the album, I listened through the entire album and wished that it was more like Underdog, but after I went back through it a few more times, the songs had a much more mature sound to them. Their sound has changed some, but the quality of music is still there. I'm really impressed with this album and hope that they wont go back to The Weekend sound again. Keep it up

Underdog Alma Mater was great. The Weekend: Friday was awful. This is great too. It improves upon what UAM was going for. A bit dancey at times, a bit corny, but that's the charm that FTSK brings to the table. And anyone who calls FTSK a "sell out", how can you justify that? Wouldn't signing to Universal/Motown right from the start classify them as sell outs? Since "Dookie", there is no such thing as selling out, especially when a band doesn't change their sound. What you think is a change in sound is a change in production quality.

I loved every single song on Underdog Alma Motor. When The Weekend: Friday came out, it was a bit different, but I still liked. I heard this, and it's way different. I honestly don't like it, and I wish they would go back to their original sound. They've become huge sell-outs to me.