Agree To Disagree

If You Think We Suck Now, Just Wait Til We Sellout

Written by: LF on 27/10/2014 23:05:40

Agree To Disagree is a foursome from South Shore, MA, who has some fairly catchy song-writing going on although their sound might still lack focus. Their debut full-length mainly falls into the pop punk genre before slowly sliding into melodic hardcore territory, and the lyrics mostly cover the classic themes of being scared that you're getting nowhere with your life and how cool it is to hang with your bros; no news there.

Already from first song "Stoop Kid's Afraid To Leave His Stoop", the qualities and limitations of the record are apparent. Unfortunately most songs, "Stoop Kid..." being the first obvious example of this, feel very flat. They are screwed together with verses, choruses and contrast pieces that makes it all flow seamlessly, but it's like the different parts don't complement each other especially well, and so the quick pace and catchy guitar licks aren't enough to make for a really dynamic record. Rather it just floats right past me. It is an easy listen, but the album in total as well as the individual songs feel a little too long, all of it being about one hour of fast-paced songs that just don't stand enough apart for the album to have any prominent sense of direction. The vocals are very similar throughout, not really emphasizing the lyrics in different ways or adding variations in energy to the songs, but rather just flowing on and on in the same gear exactly as the music mostly does.

One of the main exceptions to this general tendency is "Frame of Mind" that, even with its five-minute span, manages to keep things interesting. It changes pace strategically, features a very catchy guitar riff about midway, before exploding with screams and gang vocals and developing into a slower and more melodic ending. Other songs that keep catching my interest are the distinctly optimistic "Life's Tough, Get A Helmet", and "Famous Last Words" which is a relatively heavy song that also works very well. It has screamed verses and some very quick-paced, almost eclectic guitar riffs that really add some diversity to the album that it needs at this point, ten songs in. The songs that include harsher parts are definitely the ones I find the most interesting of the record, as the more standard pop punk ones are just too anonymous to have a lasting impact on me despite their, at times, very catchy riffs, like for instance the one on "Greetings, True Believers".

So, as a unit the record doesn't impress me too much, but there is definitely promise in this young band. As it is, I hear many little things that I like across the record, but none of the songs really grip me in their entirety. Scattered across the album are solid riffs, fairly catchy melodies and overall lots of good ideas, but the band needs to work out how to combine these elements in a more condensed form for it to really get to me.

Download: Frame of Mind; Famous Last Words; Greetings, True Believers
For The Fans Of: Four Year Strong, (early) Green Day, Such Gold, The Color and Sound
Listen: facebook.com/AgreeToDisagreeMA
Release date 08.07.2014
Self-released


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