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Our Time Down Here

Midnight Mass

Written by: PP on 10/11/2012 16:48:10

I'm not really sure what their band name means, but Our Time Down Here originate from the Southampton, UK scene and they write pretty solid melancholic punk rock on their third album "Midnight Mass". Taking their cues from the likes of Alkaline Trio, Bayside, Smoking Popes, American Steel, and other like-minded bands, they go for that cheerful, melodic punk rock sound which has a certain degree of morbid and goth vibe associated to it. They even channel some upbeat Bouncing Souls style punk rock on a track like "The Power To Charm".

As such, "Midnight Mass" isn't exactly an original album, considering how there are a number of songs which sound almost identical to their influences, such as "Every Little Thing She Does Is Tragic", which could be straight out of classic Alkaline Trio circa "From Here To Infirmary"-era. But as is often the case in melodic punk, whether you're original or not is not as important as writing catchy, fast songs that enable big sing alongs and plenty of memorable, hair-raising passages. And that's something Our Time Is Down here are excellent at throughout the record. Whether you pop on "Words You'll Never Read, For A Song You'll Never Hear", "Black Ice & Bad Advice", or "Precognition", you're always guaranteed a solid punk rock anthem just the way their influences originally delivered them. And if you're longing for a more aggressive stance rooted in hardcore, the band has songs like "The Reckoning" in the mix as well, which are sourced from Rise Against/Authority Zero style melodic hardcore while retaining the vocals clean for the most part.

Out of the 13 songs on the record, three are introductory/interlude type of tracks, which seem to provide some kind of backing story or context to the album. They are mostly skippable unless they tickle the goth soul inside of you, but not enough to distract from the main point of "Midnight Mass" overall: this is how to write melodic punk in 2012 with class and with good references to bigger and more established bands in the process.

Download: Black Ice & Bad Advice, Every Little Thing She Does Is Tragic, The Power To Charm
For the fans of: Alkaline Trio, Bayside, Smoking Popes, American Steel
Listen: Facebook

Release date 05.03.2012
Self-Released