Yellowcard - Paper Walls
Monday, 16 Jul 2007 18:22
Yellowcard: Kicking down some Paper Walls
Capitol, out July 16th 2007.
In a nutshell…
Latest effort from violin-wielding punks
What's it all about?
Ryan Key's distinctively nasal vocals kick off album opener The Takedown, but some call-and-response (reminiscent of Billy Talent) gives a subtle hint that there might be some substance to this latest album. Unfortunately, while Sean Mackin's violin continues to lift Yellowcard's work above the scores of no-mark, soundalike pop-punk bands, Key's lyrics continue to stray towards the asinine ("what am I fighting for?/there must be something more"). Shrink The World is overpoweringly saccharine, and only just catchy enough to avoid being irritating. The duelling guitars towards the end are a nice touch though and Tom Lord-Alge's mixing skill is clear. There are some brilliantly hectic moments, notably on Five Becomes Four and Afraid, and the choruses soar effortlessly. While they build anticipation of an epic anthem on Keeper, only to disappoint with a plodding melody, Shadows and Regrets becomes something quite wonderful, with some minor-key acoustics showing some a great deal of promise, realised in the anthemic climax of Paper Walls. An angelic choir builds with spiralling strings, and the oddly Christmassy feel of the song isn't too big a problem when it's delivered so passionately.
Who's it by
Jacksonville punks Yellowcard hit the big-time in 2003, with the multi-million selling Ocean Avenue, a fantastically gleeful mix of pop-punk melodies, some surprisingly mature rock sensibilities and a unique classical edge, thanks to Mackin's input. This latest album finds them again produced by Neal Avron, and mixing magic of Tom Lord-Alge is certainly welcome, with the sound never cluttered or succumbing to the tinny depths of much of the pop-punk canon. There's also a hint that some bitterness and bile could enter their music, though not as much you'd expect from a band who billed the recording of this album as a "group therapy session", after founding member Ben Harper left acrimoniously.
As an example…
"Let me light up the sky/Light it up for you/Let me tell you why/I would die for you" - Light Up The Sky
"When I thought that I might be invincible/It wasn't long before I was invincible" - Cut Me, Mick
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Ocean Avenue begot several hit singles, successful tours and an MTV video award, while Lights and Sounds was received similarly well. While Paper Walls is a fairly good album, it's just not groundbreaking or exciting enough to garner any widespread acclaim. The album PR boasts that the band entered the studio determined to record without a game-plan and maybe that's the problem - a bit more concentration could've produced something great.
What the others say
"For a genre that continues to leave a bad taste in many mouths ... it is about time someone did it right. Summer is almost in full swing and there are not many bands better equipped to draw upon each of their preceding releases and construct an album undeniably mixed with the sun's rays in mind." - Jason Tate, AbsolutePunk.net
"Paper Walls is the perfect pop-punk album for summer, period. Yellowcard's sixth effort recaptures the rep gained with Ocean Avenue and replenishes the credibility lost with their not so notable 2006 release, Lights and Sounds." - Fuss Magazine
So is it any good?
It's not bad, but coming from a band who'd once seemed so fresh and innovative, even just through the addition of a violin to their arsenal, it's a little disappointing that this treads no new ground. It's commendably chorus-driven and the 13 songs will certainly stick in your head, but not because of any great ingenuity. Paper Walls is so memorable an album because Key is clearly a man who loves his power ballads and pop, and stripped of Longineu Parsons' frenetic drumming and the extra force added by Ryan Mendez joining as a second guitarist, the hooks here would fit perfectly well on a syrupy boyband album. It'd just be so much more preferable if Key's lyrics weren't so sickly sweet. There's nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve - the rise of emo shows just how well it can work - but even with pop-punk's status as the least mature member of the rock family, there's still little excuse for lyricism that wouldn't seem out of place on an N*Sync album.
6/10
Lewis Bazley
"When you compare Yellowcard to N*Sync and pop boybands like that, it's just plain wrong. Yellowcard is a rock band more specifically pop punk, but that doesn't mean they are anywhere near pop. The rock really shows in their music." – Tim Y
"I thought it was a great album for the summer and I still listen to it frequently. I like the fact that Sean's violin is better placed. I mostly agree witt his review - it's better than Lights and Sounds but the next album should be much better. But all-in-all it's a great album and they are a sweet band." - Robert Trippel
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