Posted on
Jun 10, 2009 at 2:53pm by
Peter04
Long Island, New York’s Taking Back Sunday are back with New Again, their follow up to 2006’s Louder Now. This disc finds the band continuing to raise the bar with their thunderous guitar riffs, Adam Lazzara’s gritty and powerful vocals, and thunderous drum work. Taking Back Sunday have proved that they are still relevant among the endless crop of look alike bands that have dominated the scene in recent years.
The album kicks off with the title track, which is a mid tempo rocker giving a brief taste of what the rest of the album is like. The band’s backup singer Fred Mascherino left the band shortly after the release of their last album to focus on his solo project and was replaced by Matt Fazzi on lead guitars and vocals, and this album reflects somewhat on his departure and the difficulty in finding a replacement. The album’s first single “Sink Into Me” is a powerful and anthemic number with pounding drums and a chorus of “hey, hey, hey” is heard before the guitars kick in.
“Lonely, Lonely” builds up on the incredible energy found on the previous track and highlights Adam Lazzara’s amazing vocals with a crunching wave of guitars and Matt Rubano’s amazing bass skills shine brightly here as well. “Swing” is faintly reminiscent of songs from their 2002 debut, Tell All Your Friends which spawned the hit singles “Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From The Team)” and “You’re So Last Summer”. The overall sound of this album will please older and devoted fans of Taking Back Sunday while also gaining new fans in the process who might not be familiar with the band.
The energy comes down on a bit on “Where My Mouth Is” where Adam’s vocals shine in a new light, matching the overall tone of this song with a vivid emotional intensity. My favorite track on the album is “Cut Me Up Jenny”, a song which highlights the emotional maturity that this band has gone through in the past few years, with thunderous guitars and pristine vocals. Relationships that have gone sour and the demise of a friendship are some of the key inspirations behind Taking Back Sunday’s music.
Overall, a quality effort from one of the leading innovators in rock music today and a drastic sonic change from their last album. Some fans might feel that this album doesn’t sound like their previous albums and doesn’t quite get them noticed, but the point of follow up albums is to analyze the sound from your previous album and figure out areas where you can trim the fat and beef up your sound all across the board. Taking Back Sunday have clearly accomplished that task here and this album clearly shows the evolution of their sound.
Album Score:
4/5 pts.
Track Listing:
1. New Again
2. Sink Into Me
3. Lonely, Lonely
4. Summer, Man
5. Swing
6. Where My Mouth Is
7. Cut Me Up Jenny
8. Catholic Knees
9. Capital, M-E
10. Carpathia
11. Everything Must Go
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