Reviewed! Louder Than Bombs - What Resonates
Louder Than Bombs
What Resonates
South Division Records
Even with the obvious Hot Water Music worship, Louder
Than Bombs is a band to watch, and no, it’s not just because of the overt
Smiths reference. Alternating between gruff melodic hardcore and sparkling pop,
the band’s latest release What Resonates
is an enjoyable nugget of a record, and in typical pop punk fashion the album
fires on all cylinders right out of the gate with the high octane opener
“Haunted.” While it doesn’t possess the same breadth as much of what’s yet to
come on What Resonates, the opener
perfectly sets the tables for what lies ahead on What Resonates. There is no shortage of material easily classified
as catchy as hell (“No News Is Good News,” “Tense”), though Louder Than Bombs
doesn’t keep things in one gear the whole way through. Yes, the band is good at
crafting bouncy pop-punk sure to get your head nodding, lips moving and toes
tapping, but the finer moments of What
Resonates might just come when the album does it best to make itself
accessible to every listener (“Reveal Itself,” “Banish”). What Resonates gives the band a nice base to build off on in the
future, and yes, there are things that need a bit of tweaking, though it seems
to be nothing more than merely a tightening the screws. Yes, Louder Than Bombs
does owe more than a tip of the cap to Hot Water Music, but their sound also
leans towards bands like the Draft, Fireworks and Set Your Goals, and to be
honest, What Resonates should quickly
carve itself out a niche alongside those bands’ releases in your record collection.
Grade: B-
Go Download: “Tense”
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