Four Year Strong - Brain Pain
No one can ever take away the legacy Four Year Strong has in their wake. Rise or Die Trying and Enemy of the world broke the Pop Punk mould. Bands across the planet emulated their heavy/catchy archetype. There's not generally much longevity in the scene, maybe 5-8 years and a couple albums. Well, Four Year Strong broke that mould too. They've been killing it for double that. ROD came out in 07, and probably blew out a speaker in every car I've owned since then. The work they've done with Will Putney on their sixth full length is no different. Absolutely full of catchy breakdowns, brutal rhythmic honesty, and a direct connection to my nineteen year old self through Pop Punk dipped in Hardcore.
When Brain Pain starts, it starts with one of the best intro tracks since There, There by the wonder years; or Pawner by Polar Bear Club. This intro though feels a lot like they should be happy about where they are, but for some reason they don't. It feels like they're realizing they've been in the scene for almost 20 years now and aren't really sure if it's what they've always wanted. But how could they complain? They're living the lives that so many fans would love to have.
Crazy Pills kind of follows that theme; going nuts waiting around for an answer. I know the lyrics don't explicitly say that, but I'm going off an overall theme I'm noticing through out the whole album. Definitely need to mention that Dan O'Connor and Alan Day have not lost their chops what so ever. They're still writing some of the catchiest riffs Pop Punk has to offer. Never mind the fact that they've been scene powerhouses since 2007. Freaking awesome.
Seventeen, is a longing for being young again. To me, it feels like they're looking to feel the way they felt when they first starting writing music. Nostalgia wrapped in catchy-as-hell. Be Good When I'm Gone feels like they're saying goodbye. They loved the calamity and the chaos of their youth. If you follow them both on any social media platform, you know they're older with families. A tragedy that takes most of us over eventually. What it must feel like to go from kings of the scene, to veterans, to pioneers. Legends never die! The Worst Part About Me (my favorite track) seems like they're speaking to the family versions of themselves. Like they wish they could get out and go back on the road.
I'm making all of these assumptions through picking the lyrics out that fit my idea and interpreting them that way. Maybe it's my own feelings I'm projecting onto an awesome album from an awesome band. Wishing the road was still the same as it was when I was young. Who knows.
The album ends with Usefully Useless and Young At Heart. Usefully Useless displays insecurities of not being good enough, or not being considered real anymore (a "wanna be" to be specific) even though they've been at the top of their game for years, they don't want to become a parody of themselves. Sitting on the fence somewhere between giving up and moving forward. Young At Heart is the final paragraph of this sonic love letter to the scene. Admitting they want to hold on, but the "tidal wave" they're staring down is a life on the road, writing and far from their families. They truly are modern legends. Loud as fuck, and still at the top of the world.
When Brain Pain starts, it starts with one of the best intro tracks since There, There by the wonder years; or Pawner by Polar Bear Club. This intro though feels a lot like they should be happy about where they are, but for some reason they don't. It feels like they're realizing they've been in the scene for almost 20 years now and aren't really sure if it's what they've always wanted. But how could they complain? They're living the lives that so many fans would love to have.
Crazy Pills kind of follows that theme; going nuts waiting around for an answer. I know the lyrics don't explicitly say that, but I'm going off an overall theme I'm noticing through out the whole album. Definitely need to mention that Dan O'Connor and Alan Day have not lost their chops what so ever. They're still writing some of the catchiest riffs Pop Punk has to offer. Never mind the fact that they've been scene powerhouses since 2007. Freaking awesome.
Seventeen, is a longing for being young again. To me, it feels like they're looking to feel the way they felt when they first starting writing music. Nostalgia wrapped in catchy-as-hell. Be Good When I'm Gone feels like they're saying goodbye. They loved the calamity and the chaos of their youth. If you follow them both on any social media platform, you know they're older with families. A tragedy that takes most of us over eventually. What it must feel like to go from kings of the scene, to veterans, to pioneers. Legends never die! The Worst Part About Me (my favorite track) seems like they're speaking to the family versions of themselves. Like they wish they could get out and go back on the road.
I'm making all of these assumptions through picking the lyrics out that fit my idea and interpreting them that way. Maybe it's my own feelings I'm projecting onto an awesome album from an awesome band. Wishing the road was still the same as it was when I was young. Who knows.
The album ends with Usefully Useless and Young At Heart. Usefully Useless displays insecurities of not being good enough, or not being considered real anymore (a "wanna be" to be specific) even though they've been at the top of their game for years, they don't want to become a parody of themselves. Sitting on the fence somewhere between giving up and moving forward. Young At Heart is the final paragraph of this sonic love letter to the scene. Admitting they want to hold on, but the "tidal wave" they're staring down is a life on the road, writing and far from their families. They truly are modern legends. Loud as fuck, and still at the top of the world.
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