Tonight Alive - What Are You So Scared Of? Review
I’m going to start this review with an apology, because it is impossible to write about a female-fronted pop-punk band without mentioning Paramore...
Im going to start this review with an apology, because it is impossible to write about a female-fronted pop-punk band without mentioning Paramore. This is usually an unfair comparison, hence the apology, and Sydney based pop-punkers Tonight Alive arent just an Australian Paramore. What Are You So Scared Of? sees them trying to break the UK and America, having already sold upwards of 20,000 copies of the album in their home country. With production duties being handled by Mark Trombino (producer of legendary pop-punk albums such as Blink 182s Dude Ranch and Jimmy Eat Worlds Bleed American) and 45 minutes of solid tracks, hopefully some of their success down under will be repeated over here. Opening with the instrumental and atmospheric Eject, Eject, Eject! gives second track Breaking & Entering some extra impact, as well as giving the guitarists a chance to remind listeners that this band isnt just lead singer Jena McDougalls solo project. When her vocals do come in, they are pretty much exactly what youd expect from a band of this nature: powerful and emotive, which in turn fit perfectly with the music. Again, some listeners may think of Hayley Williams straight away, and whilst there are obvious similarities in the vocal style, the instrumental backing is more suited to a band such as New Found Glory or Blink 182, noticeably heavier than Paramore. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc6lhFWhofA The New Found Glory influence can definitely be heard on tracks like Starlight and Amelia, Starlight with its gang vocals which are handled well by the rest of the band, and Amelia contains a fantastic breakdown that makes it one of the albums stand out moments. Moments like this allow guitarists Whakaio Taahi and Jake Hardy, bassist Cam Adler and drummer Matt Best to have their chance to show off their talents. Later tracks such as Fake It and title track What Are You So Scared Of? contain more impressive guitar work and the drumming holds the album together well whilst also contributing some interesting fills and drum patterns. The band has a helping hand on the song Thank You & Goodnight by someone who will most likely help to generate a lot of interest in the album from pop-punk fans and causal listeners alike, with a star turn from genre royalty Mark Hoppus of Blink 182. Its another of the albums high points and having friends in such high places can only benefit the band. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnxE-mX7EwI McDougalls vocals are easily on par with the rest of her band and add a great deal of emotional weight to the songs. In an odd way though, she could be considered the weak link, simply due to the over-saturation of the female fronted pop-punk genre, not only causing her to be compared to the aforementioned Hayley Williams but also Tay Jardine of rising stars We Are The In Crowd. Tonight Alive need something to make themselves more unique, but they have a great base to build on for album number two, if they continue writing songs to the level that theyve shown on What Are You So Scared Of? Maybe if they were to focus more on the heavier side of their songs this would help separate them from the rest of the pack and they could be pop-punks next big thing. The band are expected to announce a UK tour supporting Young Guns soon, and some of the songs on this album sound like theyd work well in a live environment, especially with the gang vocals and call and response sections that they have going on. So, if you want to have a good time to some bouncing pop-punk make sure to catch these guys if they visit your town. Tonight Alive dont reinvent the wheel by any stretch of the imagination, but What Are You So Scared Of? is a solid debut from these Australian pop-punkers. Tonight Alive's What Are You So Scared Of is available from Monday.