Happy to be Miserable!
8 years ago Pop/Punk had peaked and the catchy bouncy anthems were merging into a sea of generics, with only a handful of bands managing to raise above a genre that I loved, but could see had pushed itself as far as it could (as Glam Rock had done so some 12 years earlier than that). Of course there was even the infamous song by Avoid One Thing Pop Punk Band, that suggested that bands got their ideas from MTV, the fans shopped at Hot Topic (American Alternative Shop like Blue Banana) and that everyone wanted to sing like Tom DeLonge. Even the structure of songs were questioned as being all about the chorus and harmonies and that the verse was just a means of getting to the good part. So now back to today and Pop Punk is still around but it has evolved - as all music has too - and as such the genre is now musically more mature whilst not losing the fun, excitement and tongue-in-cheek humour.
August Premier are a band that have been around since 2000 having released two previous albums and an EP, and having a close link to the great band Allister (whom I've seen live a couple of times) this album shows the evolution of Pop Punk better than most. The first song on the album is Trenches which jumps out at you with pounding drums and a production that is as clean as the vocals are slightly more gravelly like the other Chicago musical maestros Alkaline Trio (also produced by Matt Allison). Whilst other new wave Pop Punk bands like Man Overboard, Transit, The Wasted Years etc are more clean-cut EMO-influenced Pop Punk, August Premier have more than a healthy dose of Punk with chugging guitars and shouting vocals. Foo Figgity blasts out like The Loved Ones, and Little Girl is a pure musical joy with the ability of harmonising whilst still having you pumping your fist in the air.
The connections to past band members of Allister are evident in Worlds Away, (which includes guest vocals from Allister's Tim Rogner) which is probably the only slight nostalgic echo from Pop Punk of days gone by. Then we get an adrenaline shot with the fast paced Grey Skies, before the slower and more thoughtful Punk Rock of A Good Day For The Birds and the mid-tempo Battles. Then again we see that the structure of song is also lyrically focused as Remember The Pines suggests, and the emphasis is less on Pop and more of the roots of Rock. Breakers, has a simple structure of bass and melodic guitar strums for the first part before the drums kick in and the guitars start chugging into a monster of a tune, before the last song of Last Word which jumps out and slaps you into submission.
Happy Miserable is a great album and for what it's worth is the best album of the year so far. It stands up to be counted holding a fistful of great Punk Rock tunes that stand alone, making no apologies for the lack of sugar-sweet harmonies. This is the future of Pop Punk and Hell yeah I love it!