RELIENT K “Five Score And Seven Years Ago”
If Mmhmmm found RELIENT K working hints of melodic, piano-driven rock into their BLINK 182-influenced pop-punk, then consider Five Score And Seven Years Ago their coming out party as a fully-developed pop-rock band. This rapid evolution is most likely attributed to their jump from the underground Christian scene to the mainstream a few years ago. While the band has lost a lot of the sensibilities that made them so fun in the past, what they are now doing as a band is a lot less tongue-in-cheek. The first thing I noticed with Five Score‘s sound was its inherent similarities to MAE. I have no doubt that the chord and key progressions found in “The Best Thing” and “Forgiven” come directly from MAE (also one of RELIENT K’s consistent tourmates). The influence can be found all throughout the disc, and while it is very apparent, it’s not a bad thing by any means. Aside from this, much of Five Score sticks to standard pop-rock fare. There are a few fast tunes that bring to mind the band’s past work (“Devastation And Reform,” “I’m Taking You With Me”), but even when the riffs are a bit faster, the addition of piano almost always gives the song a slower appearance. One of the band’s newer techniques – dueling and shouting vocals – shows up in the aggressive “I Need You.” Driven by one of the best guitar licks on the record, the song takes off because of the vocal interaction between leader Matt Thiessen and his bandmates. All in all, “I Need You” is Five Score‘s fiercest and nastiest song, and for some reason, it works very well for RELIENT K. Five Score, as with a lot of albums in this genre, comes with a fair share of filler. “Faking My Own Suicide” is a decent folk-inspired song, but it feels extremely out of place on a RELIENT K record. For crying out loud guys, you’re not LIMBECK! Additionally, the eleven-minute closer, “Deathbed,” is a bit much even for the guy that typically enjoys longer songs. With fourteen tracks in all, a song of this length certainly doesn’t increase Five Score‘s playability factor. Like Mmhmm, this one stretches past the fifty-minute mark which is an unforgivable act for any pop-rock band. RELIENT K can write these melodic piano tunes as well as any other group, but they’ll need to figure out a way to embrace the short-and-sweet writing format before they can expect to make a career out of it.
Capitol
