Seasons Change

Please Don't Leave

Written by: PP on 13/04/2015 23:18:09

The tentacle-like influence of The Wonder Years is spreading itself further and further from its emo pop punk origins. Here we have an example within technical skate punk in the vein of Belvedere and This Is A Standoff, where LA's Seasons Change basically merge the genre together with the emotive and passionate vocal approach of the modern pioneers. The resulting expression basically sounds like a hyperspeed version The Wonder Years with a little more technical guitar work, and a nod or two towards The Story So Far in the process (no doubt due to sharing a producer with them). The Swellers are also a good reference point here due to the relentless speed that their debut album "Please Don't Leave" is played with throughout.

Their vocalist shares a similar range as Soupy from TWY, which is where that reference primarily comes from. In the meantime, the rest of the band race away at breakneck speed, with guitars often featuring tapped melodies that draw from New Found Glory's early 2000s classics as much as they do from the aforementioned technical skate punk groups. The band do a few forays outside of these genres as well: "Valentine", for instance, almost reaches into Anthony Green style post-hardcore heights vocally, but for the most part, the songs crush the pedal through the floor, which is usually a good mark in my books, but here, Seasons Change don't do enough to distinguish them from each other. A few tracks in, the formula starts repeating itself, mostly because the chorus melodies aren't as infectiously catchy nor as charismatic as many of the other bands mentioned in this review profess. There are notable exceptions, such as "The Reasons Why", but the second half of the record is regrettably anonymous in its nature. What's worse, the higher pitched vocal style starts becoming too nasal and whiny in the long run due to lack of variety - it's the same stuff over and over again.

Sure, it's emotive and there's no argument against the band's audible passion on record, but the songs just don't stick in your mind well enough. It's interesting to hear a much faster version of the extremely popular emotive pop punk style, but that opinion is restricted to a few songs on "Please Don't Leave" before it's time to move onto something else. Decent, but far behind the best releases in the genre.

Download: Clueless, The Reasons Why, Hope This Stains
For the fans of: The Swellers, The Wonder Years, The Story So Far, The Traditional
Listen: Facebook

Release date 07.04.2015
No Sleep Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.