Review by Ritchie Birnie for MPM
Better Days is a lesson in how to erase a decade in a blink of an eye. It is like being transported back to the early 2000s, full of hope, carefree and when music was pure fun.
The album opens with the title track and it is like nothing has changed. This is Pop/Punk heaven and everything you loved about Yellowcard in just over three minutes. It is catchy, it is euphoric and totally uplifting…welcome back guys.
With an almost dance opening we burst into latest single “Take What You Want”. The drum fills send this song into the stratosphere and those violins are back right where they belong and I am smiling from ear to ear.
“Love Letters Lost” has the addition of Matt Skiba and it sounds incredible. Every tick required for the POP/Punk instant hit is right here. The frantic guitars, perfect vocals and the feeling of urgency screams in your ears and the song will stick with you for ages.
The inovation that brought Yellowcard to the fore is up front on “Honestly I”. The distorted violin gives way to a distorted beat which will have your heart flickering (as long as you have it loud enough). Your feet will be air drum pedaling like a maniac and you will be right back to your youth.
Talking of youth we have Avril Lavigne on the song “You Broke Me Too” and this song nearly broke me. This is a stunningly beautiful song that for me is up there as the best work this band have ever done. This is a song that they could not have written 10 years ago, you can only reach songwriting this accomplished with scars.
This is followed up with another powerful track in “City of Angels”. It starts simple with a repeating synth backbone and William on vocals. This has a real celtic feel and probably why it instantly slipped into my heart. The simplicity builds to a frenetic pace and I am sure I heard someone shouting Es are good somewhere.
If you want yesteryear “Bedroom Posters” is for you. Just those two words takes me back to the 80s and I can still tell you what ones were on my walls all those decades ago and like those memories we have a song that will take you back to every Yellowcard show you ever attended. This is polished brilliance.
“Skin Scraped” has those scars I was speaking about earlier and they fold into the perfect song. The pace is high, the urgency has you on the edge of your seat and you cannot help yourself from enjoying the hell out of it.
“Barely Alive” has William full of angst, you believe every word that slips so melancholy through your speakers. The chorus rips at the heart, it feels like that scream in the dark that is wrought with fear but full of defiance.
The album closes on “Big Blue Eyes”, another simple track, an acoustic guitar, vocals and melodies. This reminded me of Idlewild, a band I love from my homeland and where I hear those celtic connections. This is another slow but beautiful track.
Sometimes come backs can be so disappointing but Better Days is more like a celebration of the band we loved and an introduction to the band here and now.
I have no doubt that this will be a massive hit, initially this will be for nostalgia reasons but this is no throw away album, this is full of songs that will live with you just as the original tracks did. With an album this good we are living in better days.
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