Good Charlotte

Youth Authority

Written by: PP on 20/12/2016 23:46:09

Six years separated from their previous pancake "Cardiology", Good Charlotte released a new full-length during the summer, drawing numerous reactions-in-disbelief ranging from "these guys are still around?" to "why are they still around?". With nearly every band that matters releasing a new record this year - many of them excellent - "Youth Authority" was destined to drown underneath the noise, especially because it is only marginally better than its predecessor, but almost unnoticeably so.

Don't be fooled by the energetic opener "Life Changes". It's a track that recalls their early days when they were writing mainstream but nonetheless unashamed pop punk that led to their popular breakthrough on sophomore album "The Young And The Hopeless". Bouncy riffs, polished pop punk production, and a revitalized feeling after the Simple Plan and/or Fall Out Boy-esque generic pop rock effort six years. Same goes with Kellin Quinn (Sleeping With Sirens) guested "Keep Swingin'", which is upbeat and defiantly chants out "even when they said we sold out / we keep swingin' and we all just go down / saying and playing what we think" during its infectious chorus. Sure guys, whatever you say. It's hilarious that the band follow it up with more cheese than you'll encounter on a French date on soulless pop rock track "Reason To Stay" that has more in common with Hoobastank's sell-out track "The Reason" than with a good pop rock, let alone a pop punk track.

There are only a couple of tracks that can't, in all honesty, be labeled mainstream drivel aimed at the lowest common denominator music fans out there. The vast majority of the material is superfluous, oh-so-safe for the radiowaves, and sounds like it was written together with pop songwriters for the purpose of career musicians on autopilot rather than a passionate group of musicians desiring to write the best record possible. Balladic and boring, extremely predictable and instantly forgettable, Good Charlotte have pretty much written themselves off the history books with this one. Skip without a guilty conscience.

Download: Life Changes, Keep Swingin'
For the fans of: Fall Out Boy, Simple Plan, Yellowcard
Listen: Facebook

Release date 15.07.2016
MDDN / Kobalt

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