Broadway Calls - Good Views, Bad News
Rating
RIYL
Blink-182New Found Glory
Alkaline Trio
Green Day
Release Date
08/18/2009
Label
SideOneDummyTracklist
Midnight HourBe All That You Can’t Be
Election Night
Basement Royalty
To The Sheets
Give Up the Ghost
The Sundowners
Tonight Is Alive
Best Year
Wake Up Call
At The End
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Pop-punk is not dead. Instead, it has become a vice for modern groups to specialize in, and usually only those too sluggish to even conjure up the word “creativity” in their lazy minds dare to claim a share in the genre’s contemporary market. To be blunt: it’s not dead, but it is severely wounded and this health update is old news. Yes, Blink-182 reunited, but the overall outlook for the genre is still terribly bleak when all it is is rehashed chord progression after rehashed chord progression, redundant riff after redundant riff and neon/auto-tune perversion after neon/auto-tune perversion. What’s more, aside from the recent flourishing of the mentioned “neon-pop” trend, tag-along bands have been enjoying the ease of writing copycat music for at least a decade now, and yet we still find daily the aspiring, local bunch monotonously advertising themselves as “RIYL: Green Day, Blink-182, New Found Glory.” It’s a fine dilemma.
Here’s where it’s appropriate to bring up Broadway Calls. The Rainier, OR swashbucklers first drew attention with 2007’s self titled album, a 14-track attempt of mostly aptly written goods. This is of interest because Broadway Calls risked criticism then and did not hesitate to continue penning in the familiar pop-punk trend. Yet in doing so, the band discovered exceptional talent no other band in the market held, and as a result, their self titled album packed a punch forceful enough to potentially set the genre’s crooked teeth straight – but it wasn’t quite a strong enough punch. Nevertheless, that was two years ago, and today we’re looking at a different weapon – we’re looking at Good Views, Bad News, and here, Broadway Calls have arrived.
This sophomore full-length finds the band still singing about the same topics they, and most their genre-mates, always have; namely ladies, relationships and nostalgia (no songs praising Oregon this time). Every facet of the album, however, is meatier, jauntier and altogether more focused. Musically, it’s what “infectious” wishes it could describe. Lyrically, it’s surprisingly quotable around every bend from, “I’m still coughing up those songs I sang last night,” (“Give Up the Ghost”) to, “Gimme touch, gimme sensation of anything!” (“Basement Royalty”). Their lyrics embody wit and ability, which every band can learn from. Best of all, consistency reigns supreme and all 11 tracks bundle quality, from the single-ready “Midnight Hour” all the way to the closing ballad “At The End.”
It’s Broadway Call’s rugged songwriting, though, that creates the crevice of talent that separates them from their numerous peers. Technically, they’re far from breaking any new ground when they let the ancient four chord progression structure dominate, but even then, every song is like the first bite from a bag of potato chips – fresh, ripe and remarkably vivid. The band fuses this quality with gallons and gallons of passion, passion, and passion which ultimately ends up creating a game changer of an album.
Take the campfire camaraderie of “The Wake Up Call,” which reminisces, “Woah, when we dance in your headlights / Woah, I’d kill for those nights… / I’ve got strong memories / Let’s make this tonight please.” It’s an absolutely powerful number because it pulls the listener into the same poignant atmosphere the song was written in and easily recalls personal sentimental memories. Or, note the zest oozing from the sing-along chorus of “Tonight’s Alive”: “From the city lights to the backyard skies / To dark sweaty rooms that shape our lives / I don’t know much but I know tonight’s alive.” It’s a campaign to sit still through the segment, and it does nothing but leave a strong optimism for life in its wake.
Rocker “Best Year” hinges on the line, “Oh I hope you’re ready for this,” a perfect precursor for those still to wet anticipating feet in Good Views, Bad News. The album is truly a solid piece of work, one that sounds like what years and years of pop-punk evolution have been pushing to make – at the very least, the undisputed album of the year in its genre, and at maximum potential, the crowning achievement of the entire genre. Fundamentally, it’s everything pop-punk needs to thaw its monotonous Ice Age and rejuvenate its decency. Of course, in this messed up world, not everyone will heed the message of quality it bleeds, but still, it’s not far-fetched to expect Broadway Calls to save the genre. After all, if there’s one thing Good Views, Bad News epitomizes, it’s this: pop-punk is most definitely not dead.
--Matthew Tsai
Comments
Washington, DC
Color me excited.
"Standing still is where we've gone wrong" - The dingees
www.twitter.com/stephenharris09
http://www.last.fm/user/tunemyheart
San Jose, CA
Pop-punk album of the year.
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
broadway calls and set your goals are saving pop-punk this year!
Lehigh Valley, PA
This band is complete doody.
Atascadero, CA
reminds me of The Ataris when they were good. takes me back to my early punk years. i dig it.
Decoymusic.com (CEO/Founder)
Blue Reef Design Studios (Web Development)
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Lehigh Valley, PA
That's a VERY bold statement. I don't hear any Ataris
Atascadero, CA
not for me when i never really enjoyed any The Ataris cept a couple tracks.. still gives me that vibe.
Decoymusic.com (CEO/Founder)
Blue Reef Design Studios (Web Development)
http://aarontroy.tumblr.com
West Haven, CT
Not for me. two thumbs down.
The Cityscape Burns Brighter By The Hour.