Stand Atlantic
Pink Elephant


4.0
excellent

Review

by iChuckles USER (34 Reviews)
August 7th, 2020 | 61 replies


Release Date: 2020 | Tracklist

Review Summary: I'm all I have

Leave it to aussie-quartet Stand Atlantic for breathing heaps of life and volatile energy into the well-worn pop-punk formula. Expanding upon the blueprint laid by their excellent debut Skinny Dipping, sophomore effort Pink Elephant ups the ante with a plethora of electronic-powered hooks and unrestrained vocals from front-woman Bonnie Fraser, imbuing virtually every melody with grit, punch and a total lack of restraint. Lead single "Shh", the summer-glistening "DWYW", "Soap" and the pummeling riffage of "Jurassic Park" are full-on powerhouse anthems, all packing choruses best reserved for long-time veterans in the scene. And yet, the top-tier production values and the display of confidence from every band member suggest that Stand Atlantic have been churning out sing-along bops ‒ like the ones clogging the track listing on this album ‒ for years on end. The transition from broody synthesizers to punishing riffs on "Wavelength" is effortless and the electronic beats running rampant on the verses of "Soap" go together with Bonnie's silky-smooth vocal runs like bread-and-butter. Hell, even the slightly trap-influenced "Silk & Satin" is rife with plushy, bubblegum melodies that echo late-summer tranquility without ever falling into 'basement-soundcloud-mixtape' levels of mediocrity.

The only slightly irksome number on Pink Elephant is the ballad "Drink to Drown", which comes across as overly melancholic and contrasts too heavily with what the remainder of the album offers, especially since a big chunk of it sees Stand Atlantic belting out the biggest choruses of their career, coupled with an instrumental section that's energetic enough to set venues ablaze. With some many like-minded bands struggling to find a sweet spot between new and old ideas, Stand Atlantic have successfully elevated their strengths to new and exciting heights without ever losing sight of their ability to write choruses and melodies that stick their landing time and time again. If you're in need of exquisitely produced late-summer pop-punk with an underlying electronic current, then Pink Elephant is as good as it gets.

Standout Tracks:
Shh
Jurassic Park
Wavelength
DWYW
Silk & Satin
Soap



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user ratings (54)
3.1
good
related reviews

Skinny Dipping


Comments:Add a Comment 
SteakByrnes
August 7th 2020


30499 Comments


Change all of those html shits to [] and that'll fix the formatting for italics and bolds

Edit: homie got them right as I pressed submit

iChuckles
August 7th 2020


734 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yessir holy crap you're quick haha!

SteakByrnes
August 7th 2020


30499 Comments


Lol solid review my man

iChuckles
August 7th 2020


734 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Thank you dude!

Crxmateo
Contributing Reviewer
August 7th 2020


171 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Their debut record was a lot better than this one. A lot of the vocal tuning on this one bothered me for some reason too

iChuckles
August 7th 2020


734 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I disagree, I'd say they are both equally good even though I agree some of the vocal production on here is slightly overbearing.

JesperL
Staff Reviewer
August 7th 2020


5728 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

man i really really disliked this lol, everything sounds super bland and the lyrics are atrocious. could forgive some of the awkward writing on skinny dipping but there's really no redeeming qualities here sadly

iChuckles
August 7th 2020


734 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

my pic is my reaction to seeing your rating lol

Get Low
August 7th 2020


14620 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Pos'd, album slaps and is a more than worthy followup to Skinny Dipping. Haters always gonna hate when any band goes in the pop direction.

JesperL
Staff Reviewer
August 7th 2020


5728 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

sorry chucky. review's great tho, glad you dig it more than i do!

iChuckles
August 7th 2020


734 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Thank you so much man! All good, haha!



"Pos'd, album slaps and is a more than worthy followup to Skinny Dipping"



Thanks a lot! Totally agree.

Lord(e)Po)))ts
August 7th 2020


70256 Comments


threw this in the queue because of the wild discrepancy beteween the album art and the genre tags but am fully expecting to hate it

JesperL
Staff Reviewer
August 7th 2020


5728 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

yeah don't do this to yourself lorde, you'll despise it

notagenius
August 8th 2020


1258 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

awful

edit: i mean the album

joshieboy
August 8th 2020


8343 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

I liked their first album so will check this

iChuckles
August 8th 2020


734 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

"awful



edit: i mean the album"



Doesn't your 2/5 rating suggest that this album is more so 'mediocre' as opposed to 'awful'?



"I liked their first album so will check this"



Please do, just heard it all the way through for the fourth time today and I now think this is marginally better than Skinny Dipping.

Get Low
August 8th 2020


14620 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

I wonder if they're going to take the Against the Current route and go full pop on their next album.

stasar
August 8th 2020


166 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I like Skinny Dipping a wee bit more, but I appreciate the band's willingness to experiment on this album, since that's when they sounded best

notagenius
August 9th 2020


1258 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

“Doesn't your 2/5 rating suggest that this album is more so 'mediocre' as opposed to 'awful'? ”



my soft-heart for girls and I don't know know how to rate 1 here considering she once delivered very strong vocal and live performance I enjoyed a lot



the vocal was too powerful and too direct to sing pop. "silk & satin" was the only track I kept in my annual playlist, her vocal performance was simply clumsy in a song that demanded details.

notagenius
August 9th 2020


1258 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

a positive example of brilliant pop transition: Emarosa's Peach Club, frontman did stupid shit band is in trouble now but their pop transition was truly the best I have ever seen.



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