Sing It Loud - Everything Collide

Photo by Collin Hughes

'Come Around' by Sing It Loud has been a summer staple ever since my friend Katie bought it queuing for Orlando's Warped Tour last year- in the stereo whenever the sun is shining. It's steadily rolling around that beautiful time of year again and Minneapolis' Sing It Loud have just released their second full length effort, 'Everything Collide'. But can they bring the sunshine again?

It's the troublesome sophomore 'sink or swim' problem yet album opener and new single, 'Sugar Sweet' is unfortunately standard pop punk. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just doesn't blow you away. The rest of the record continues in much the same way. 'Shadows' is easily the stand out track when regular lead vocalist Pat Brown hands over to guitarist Kieren Smith. Despite the end of the song veering towards being strongly reminiscent of Taking Back Sunday's 'Ghost Man on Third', it does work well. 

The recurring theme is absence. With the band being on the road for much of last and this year it's easy to see why, but for the listener it's rocky road of perseverance. 'Thunderstorms' and 'Here With You' are near identical in their notion of "you can't keep me away from you". But stick with it and you will be rewarded in the form of 'Letting Go' and closer 'Wonder Why'. 'Only One' is the first track that reminds you of the catchy sing-along nature of the band that gave 'Come Around' it's biggest appeal.

This record isn't gonna change the world; it won't even change the course of pop-punk, but it will give your car some pretty decent background music. The best thing about this album is their willingness to experiment with the band members switching it up and taking vocals here and there. Musically it's less gimmicky, there's more grown up instrumentation and while the album does show lyrical maturity from 'Come Around' it's less fun and because of that it's less soaring midday sun and more of a summer's sunset.

Sing it Loud: Everything Collide
2010 Epitaph Records

Check out their Myspace and on tour in the States with Mayday Parade.