The Dangerous Summer - Reach for the Sun
Record Label: Hopeless Records
Release Date: May 5th 2009
“In the back of my mind, well I fought my god ‘cause all of the hell that’s in my time.”
Thus kicks off Maryland quartet The Dangerous Summer’s debut album Reach For The Sun with infectious single "Where I Want To Be." This song gives listeners an early glimpse at what is to come later, held within the 11 tracks that make up Reach for The Sun. This track is the perfect opener to what will certainly be many people's perfect summer album.
From tracks like the aforementioned "Where I Want To Be" and others such as "Symmetry" and "A Space To Grow" we get accustomed to the silky melodies tainted with pessimistic lyrics. This contrast between summery melodies and AJ Perdomo’s wonderfully introspective lyrics present a strife throughout this album. Unlike many other pop-punk bands these days, where the catchiness is the focal point of a band's song, the main focus of many of The Dangerous Summer’s songs are the wonderful lyrics that paint damning pictures within the listeners head. Tracks like "Weathered" and "Northern Lights" are carried by AJ’s lyrics, which are as painful as they are personal, striking the listener with endearing honesty and wonderful composition. The painful honesty that squirms its way through all 11 tracks will drag us in and not let go until the last notes of the final track, "Never Feel Alone" finishes.
As said previously, many songs upon which this album is built are mid- to fast-paced summer singalong melodic songs. Alas, the standout songs that anchor Reach For The Sun are the brilliantly composed "slower" songs, such as "Northern Lights," "Weathered," and "Never Feel Alone." These tracks allow us to view the excellent composition of these slow songs. Perdomo’s voice guide us through the introspective lyrics of "Northern Lights" while Tyler Minsberg’s precussion pulls us along for a ride of one of the most confessional songs I’ve heard this year (so far) containing lyrics such as ” I’ll tell you I’m a god damn piece of work. So I’ll just sit here until you enter my arms - ‘Cause that’s the simpleness of where I lay my head. I’m a wreck when I’m alone, I’m the boy who lost his home”
As with all albums, this is not a perfect album by any stretch of the imagination. While it's one of the best pop punk albums I have heard in a while, it does seem to drag towards the middle, which may put off some listeners. The band also do not break any new barriers, as they stick towards the pop punk outlines commandeered by their peers.
A deeply dark but melodically summery album, Reach For The Sun will no doubt gain this band many more fans and will open up new routes for the band to grow. This album will be permanantly placed upon many people CD players (or iPods) as the summer draws closer.
“I felt the burn from every inch of my heart, but it’s worth it to never feel alone. “
But if you skip through everysongg...(i had a song stuck in my head so i tried to find it)
but every song sounds the same so i had to listen to the wholee record to find it
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but I really love it.
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