Boxer - Undertow
Virginia natives Boxer have let their debut EP on the loose, which is now available to buy and download. Undertow is a collection of moody, surly tracks that can be rendered pop-punk with a generous side-serving of emo, so be sure to have some Katy Perry songs handy to pick your mood back up after listening to this.
What would any pop-punk album be without proclamations of how much it royally sucks to grow up? Incomplete, I'd say. However, Anagram dangerously teeters on the edge of being a rather melodramatic take on adolescence; it's simply overflowing with the struggles of approaching adulthood and dealing with it. The coarsely-sung and rather poetic chorus, "The cool air and autumn leaves / all this time it was growing inside of me / it was clawing its way out / been digging this grave for twenty years now", will surely find room the iTunes library of many a brooding teenager.
Homesick is a throatily-sung tale about, well, being homesick. The blunt, angry guitar work and the furious, pounding drums nicely accompany the slightly sulky lyrics ("If home is where the heart is / we're heartless"). 20/20 is about, yes, you've guessed it, even more unhappiness. However, though the lyrics are mildly depressing, the songs themselves aren't exactly hard on the ears.
Tracks like Lost Cause and Medicine Cabinet are everything that a band of this sort should be delivering: fiery, punchy, and razor-sharp. The eerie chanting of "There's not good in everyone / there's no good in you" in Lost Cause is a charming finishing touch to the track. The chilling Medicine Cabinet tells a tale of utter confusion and detachment from life; depressing though it is, it's quite a stunning closure to Boxer's debut release.
We all love songs that aid us in wallowing in our own self-pity at times, but listening to Undertow is like travelling through a pitch-black tunnel without even the tiniest flicker of light at the end. It's certainly worth your attention, but these tracks would truly put Adele to shame.