‘Ghost’ is pounding, drum led punk with powerful lyrics and a smart tempo change. It sounds like a merge of Neck Deep-esque pop punk and classic style punk, and it works wonders.
‘Brain Dead’ sees the band taking control, its catchy without losing the sound they’re going for, and I dig the riff. “I tried so hard to make a living but we’re all just born to die” is also a splendid but cynical little lyric. See what I did there?
‘Barely Human’ manages to merge every angle they could come from, satisfying pop punk that’ll please a fan of Warped bands, a touch of unclean vocals to tap into a hardcore audience and enough hook to get the attention of a Waterparks fan.
‘Rotten Lungs’ was the first song I heard from these guys, and the Green Day vibes are huge, even down to occasional nods to Billie Joe in the vocals. This is certainly my favourite on the record. ‘Arteries’ also carries a similar vibe, especially with little lyrical touches such as ‘I’m never coming down’. ‘Emma-Lynn’ let’s us hear the guitars truly sing, and again Green Day vibes smack you across the chops. This is certainly a highlight in my book.
Some of the vocals sound like they’ve crawled out of the likes of Silverstein, and that’s the case with ‘Sympathy’ and ‘Medicate’, with the latter being my favourite of the two.
The catchy, sing along ‘Rented Space’ follows my least favourite ‘Nothing Matters If You Try’, sounding a little like a closer before half title track ‘Cynic’ actually closes us, and that one does feel like a closer. It’s more reserved, it’s got some of the record’s best lyrics (“we don’t talk about the weather much these days, im not young and dumb enough to argue anyway”) and it’s a perfect way to send off one of the most consistent records I’ve had the pleasure to review.
The title track, ‘Rotten Lungs’ and ‘Emma-Lynn’ are definitely the best tracks. If you like these, you’ll like the rest of the record for sure. I’m really impressed by this, I won’t deny.