It’s so easy to roll ones eyes when a band says, “our heavy songs got heavier and our pop songs got poppier.” A statement like that often leads to a release full of uncomfortable, inorganic crap. Bands that have a fork in the road in their sound have a serious problem. FOUR LETTER LIE has dealt with this split since their beginning, and I surmise they’re still having trouble fighting a mostly losing battle. The good news is that A New Day ups ‘the heavy’ split to something that’s like 70/30. The not as good news is that ‘the heavy’ sounds an awful lot like EVERY TIME I DIE-lite. The definitely not as good news is that ‘the poppy’ rears its heads, and with no hesitation (I cringe with each slip of electronic programming and basic dance beat). OK – there’s another bit of good news here… lead singer Brian Nagan’s voice has matured far beyond the efforts of the band’s prior two full-lengths, and his deep, powerful vocal style becomes most dominant thing on A New Day. Screaming truly is at a minimum and Nagan’s vocal heft fits the band’s guitar driven post-hardcore weight-shifting (and I swear, sometimes Nagan’s growl reminds me of CAPITAL’s Tommy Corrigan, but with only half of the sense of urgency). Perhaps the worst that can be said about FOUR LETTER LIE is that on all three of their full-lengths, I’ve yet to discover a song that remains solidly affixed to brain. A New Day is average enough to make its 35 minute running time no chore to completion, but I can’t but think that FOUR LETTER LIE is like an unmoored band floating through several different music scenes, content to follow whichever way the wind blows.

Victory Records