Callahan

Face The Day EP

Written by: TL on 16/01/2009 13:09:04

Okay so if you're not still banging your head against the wall over the sound of Bittersky (the review before this one), take comfort in the fact that this is both the last pop punk review in this streak, and it is a definite return to form for the genre. Granted, Callahan might have a name-conflict with a somewhat more awesome Canadian post-hardcore band, and they might look like grinning retards on their myspace, but that doesn't go against the fact that their second EP called "Face The Day" is the best of the handful of pop punk releases that have been reviewed this past week.

Why is it so then? Well I'll tell you, the main strength of Callahan is that, rather than sounding like yet another overproduced carbon copy of Hit The Lights, these boys seem to tilt their hats to the golden past of bands like New Found Glory and Fall Out Boy, bearing a very strong resemblance to the former. Granted, they're still not as raw and passionate as NFG were on albums like "Nothing Gold Can Stay", which isn't a surprise given the availability of modern recording technology, but they still carry a lot of the same qualities. Their guitar licks have a similar invigorating nature and their vocals are sung with a similar conviction and alternated delightfully with gang shouts in all the right places.

I know this doesn't sound overly original and truthfully it isn't, but when you're ripping off New Found Glory, all you really have to do is to get it right and you'll still be well off, and Callahan go a long way towards getting it right. They clearly have pop punk ABC and songwriting down to the letter, and all they really need is to pen some slightly stronger lines and emphasize dynamics a bit more, and then there's no reason they shouldn't sell records by the boatload. There's a very slight echo of digital enhancement in singer Ryan's voice, which is where the band is set apart from NFG and closer to Cute Is What We Aim For, and while some might be put off by that mere affiliation, I think it makes little difference in the end since the liking of vocal styles is always going to be highly subjective. Technically there's nothing wrong, so I'm not taking any points off for them at least.

In conclusion, Callahan might still have a hard time competing, seeing as there is still somewhere over 9000 bands out there that sound pretty much like them, but in the interest of fairness; that's the problem of any pop punk outfit these days and Callahan have done a good job to at least seem like one of the better ones on offer. If you're only going to listen to one of the pop punk releases I've reviewed this week, then this should be it.

7

Download: This Is One For The History Books, Love Stories Never Have Endings, Dress To Impress
For The Fans Of: New Found Glory, early Fall Out Boy, Cute Is What We Aim For
Listen: myspace.com/callahanlovesyou

Release Date 18.08.2008
**UNSIGNED BAND**

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