New Reason

Air Gun

Written by: MAK on 10/02/2016 13:24:46

Last year I accused Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! of just being another A Day To Remember rip-off. I now think I have found a band that has beaten them in that accolade. Meet New Reason from Alessandria in Italy, who have just released their second EP, “Air Gun”.

What I mean as an A Day To Remember rip-off is the easycore qualities that New Reason produce on the EP; The pop-punk hooks and vocal melodies, the metalcore-esque breakdowns and vicious harsh vocals that the likes of Four Year Strong and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! have copied over the years. The Italians take that formula for a large portion of their sound but throw in a small nu-metal twist with snippets of rap-like vocals along with the alternative rock sound that was popular in the early 2000s.

The first thing I noticed is that the cleans weren’t your generic high pitched pop-punk vocals a lá Jordan Pundik of New Found Glory. Instead, the clean vocals have a huskiness about them, sounding closer to something between Spineshank’s Jonny Santos and Puddle Of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin. Yet the harsh vocals are almost a carbon copy of ADTR’s Jeremy McKinnon, and in some sections they sound even more dominant, especially in “My Price”

The opening song “The Best Things of Our Life” contains all the factors of pop-punk and easycore that I mentioned before. Kicking off with bouncy heavy riffs, then swiftly followed by some deep rhythmic chugs, those husky cleans and randomly placed rap-like vocals catch you off guard, yet they seem to work along with the roaring shouts to finished the verse off. The chorus is saturated with pop-punk hooks and catchy vocal melodies. Of course, it wouldn’t be the perfect recipe for an easycore track without the obligatory bridge full of heavy breakdowns and brutal roaring vocals to match it before breaking back into the catchy chorus. The song takes every factor and delivers them in sublime fashion and really sets a great tone to the EP.

The rest of the EP follows suit and copies the same formula that clearly works for them, the tracks don’t really detour from it but they grow with it as “Air Gun” progresses. The follow-up track “Say Thanks To My Friends” starts off in brutal fashion, more deep roars and heavy breakdowns. Though that is counteracted by possibly the catchiest chorus on the EP. At both ends of the scale from the heaviness to the melodies, the factors increase and stand out far more against each other. Given a wider audience, this song could end up being an easycore favourite for years. “My Price” stands out purely because of how heavy it is compared to the rest, as it just has far more intensity in the screams and the riffs.

For the majority of “Air Gun” I’m reminded of when I first started listening to A Day To Remember, there are nods to the early album “For Those Who Have Heart”. It was the album before ADTR polished up their sound in productiion, and that’s what I love about “Air Gun”. New Reason emulate that same raw sound and make it work for them, utilising it to give the recordings a really natural feel to them. It gives off the vibe that the Italians will sound this good when they perform live.

8

Download: The Best Things of Our Life, Say Thanks To My Friends, My Price
For The Fans Of: A Day To Remember, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, Four Year Strong
Listen: facebook.com

Release date 15.01.2016
This Is Core Records

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