First off I really liked This Is a Stick-Upâ¦Don't Make It a Murder so as you can guess I was really excited for this album. But if you hadn't heard by now, the original singer for the band, Colin left and guitarist Nick took over vocal duties. So, I really didn't know what to expect from them on they're second full length. I wouldn't say I'm disappointed but....
There really is a lot to like about this album. Some of the songs be stuck in your head for days and are extremely fun to listen to. The lyrics are typical on most songs (friends, girls, growing up) and overall are well down ("Stay Out") but in some cases are laughably bad ("Statues"): "I'll send postcards to enemies / make sure to sign each one / while singing wish you were here." And later on the album some of the lyrics feel recycled from the earlier songs ("Wide Awake"). Noticeably gone are the tongue-in-cheek lyrics about murder that made Hit The Lights seem a little more unique compared to some of they're counterparts.
The production really helps most of the music shine and help make it more catchy. I wasn't a huge fan of how in some songs they had electronic undertones and it sounds good with some bands, but here it feels corny and almost makes the albums sound overproduced in certain parts.
There is a lot of good on this album, but with every pro, there's at least a small con. Still it's a perfect release for a time like summer so fans of the genre and band should check it out.