Review Summary: Another fantastic offering
To be frank,
Consider This was a fantastic pop/punk outing, filled with strong guitar riffs, powerful vocals, and a hot singer to boot. The short EP literally bled of angst, love, distrust, and searching all in one breadth, without coming off as overpowering or overly dark. However, it was only about five tracks long, a double-edged sword for the young Australian natives. While the tracks contained on the EP were bursting with potential, it left a sense of uneasy wandering of how a full-length would sound from Tonight Alive. Fans hanging on the edge of the cliffhanger that was
Consider This anxiously awaited
What Are You So Scared Of?, so what did they get? Another fantastic pop/punk offering.
Sonically, WAYSSO? carries the same energetic punch that drove throughout CT, but seems slightly more restrained. At times, the more intense moments contained upon the EP reminded one of A Day To Remember more than Paramore. While there’s still definitely an edge, it’s not quite as “heavy” as before. Don’t let that turn you off. Lead vocalist Jenna still leads the band’s sonic assault with her punchy, spunky vocals that strangely have a smooth side, a side that works perfectly. Jenna’s voice fits the band perfectly (did I mention she’s hot?), and no, she doesn’t sound exactly like Hayley Williams. Guitarists Jake Hardy and Whakaio Taii are the band’s second strongest force, blazing through the entire album with not just the typical palm-muted power chords, but also metal-esque leads and entertaining cleanly strummed interludes. Both bassist and drummer make worthwhile appearances (check “Sure As Hell” for one of the best examples of this), but don’t do a whole lot as a whole to advance the album.
Intro “Eject! Eject! Eject!” sounds ripped from a B-movie sci-fi, but honestly makes the listener laugh along happily and anticipate what’s to come even more. And what’s to come is well worth it: “Breaking and Entering” tears into the listener as one of the band’s strongest tracks to date, and packs a ton of strong, burning energy in its distorted guitars and its punchy vocals. Both “Sure As Hell” and “Starlight” slow down the tempo a little, but still manage to show that the band can do wonders even at their most restrained. “To Die For” blares with a slight punk energy, mainly caused by the fantastic drumming by Matt Best. Speaking of slower, both “Safe & Sound” and “Amelia” are touching, emotional ballads that can do more than compete with “The Only Exception”, while “Listening” is darkly heavy, again showing the band’s tendency for post-hardcore tinted material. The fun riffs in “Fake It” will excite any riff-oriented guitarist (yup, that’s me), while the title track closes the album out well, in the same fashion that “Born For This” closed out
Riot.
Honestly, the only thing to complain about instrumentally is the bassist, and it’s a small complaint compared to the amount of quality found on this record. Despite their youth, all the members seem like they know their way around their instruments, moreso than some contemporaries. Lyrically, the band focuses heavily on positive topics, including encouraging others (“What Are You So Scared Of”), finding your place in life (“Sure As Hell”), dealing with critics (“Breaking And Entering”), or young love (“Safe and Sound”), WAYSSO? pretty much as it all, though it mainly focuses on themes of finding yourself.
With the exception of three filler tracks (“Starlight”, “Let It Land”, “Thank You And Goodnight”), this is a fun, bombastic effort that rarely goes wrong. If, for some reason, you didn’t hurl yourself happily into
Consider This , then consider picking up
What Are You So Scared Of?.
