Hit The Lights - Coast to Coast
Hit The Lights
Coast To Coast EP
With his band’s latest release, it takes Hit The Lights vocalist Nick Thompson less than a minute to declare, "No, I'm not sorry for a damn thing." And he shouldn't be. Since taking over the spot vacated by former singer Colin Ross in 2007, Thompson guided Hit The Lights on their way to becoming one of the genre’s brightest stars, while at the same time helping hone the band’s blend of heavier-but-still-melodic pop-punk.
The band employ that same formula on Coast To Coast’s two new tracks, which ultimately sound like leftovers from the Skip School, Start Fights sessions. (You can practically sing the chorus of Skip School’s “Cry Your Eyes Out” over the refrain of “Pulse.”) Alongside a pair of acoustic tracks–which the band dress up with piano, synthesized beats and string arrangements–the true treat comes when HTL pay homage to their influences. While staying faithful to Elliott’s “Drive On To Me,” they reinvent Further Seems Forever’s “Snowbirds And Townies” with a backdrop of driving, delayed guitar riffs that eventually give way to the kind of pogo-friendly rock the band are known for. And it’s only fitting they should cover Further Seems Forever; after all, both groups know a thing or two about replacing a vocalist. Here’s hoping Hit The Lights can do something FSF were never able to: keep a vocalist for more than one full-length.
GO DOWNLOAD: “Snowbirds And Townies”
