Review by Richie Pirone
Massachusetts has been labeled breeding ground for hardcore and metalcore these days much as New Jersey has been labeled as the breeding ground for emo and pop punk. On Four Year Strong’s debut Rise Or Die Trying the band tries to fit into the pop punk that their label I Surrender Records has become known for churning out while still holding on to their Massachusetts roots. There isn’t anything wrong with this other than the fact that the band seems to lack direction on the album and is missing the punch that a band that is about to make an impact has.
The record opens with rock n’ roll promise from “The Takeover” that turns out to be just a short filler track capturing the classic Boston punk sound. The album’s second track “Prepare To Be Digitally Manipulated” heads into the direction that the rest of the album takes head on with decent hooks surrounded by hardcore riffs in the guitars.
“Abandon Ship Or Abandon All Hope” finds Four Year Strong still struggling to find an identity. The song opens with a somewhat dark sounding riff, which is then countered with a rather happy and bubbly sounding synthesizer part that leads into a poppy verse. Of course it doesn’t end there. Guitarists Dave O’Connor and Alan Day add some harmonics into the guitar riffs to stray back into the metal direction.
“Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die” is that album’s first single but it brings more of the same as the previous song. The one highlight of the song is that the band again embodies the Boston punk sound with the “together we can burn this place down” chant but takes away from its impact with another stray back into the realm of hardcore.
The Get Up Kids-esque “Catastrophe” is a pleasant surprise on the album even if the band still can’t seem to find musical direction on the song. “Mar Are From Mars, Women Are From Hell” is a song that’s hard to ignore simply because of its title. I would fully agree with the later half for the title, just for the record, but it’s too bad that it turns out to be one of the weaker songs on the album that just blends into the background.
“Beatdown In The Key Of Happy” sounds like it came right off of a Fall Out Boy record which is actually a compliment because the song takes a direction and stays with it for the most part. It has got some nicely crafted background vocals as well as a poppy riff. If Four Year Strong were able to take this kind of direction Rise Or Die Trying would be a much better record.
Rise Or Die Trying’s final track “MANIAC (R.O.D)” really tells you all you need to know about Four Year Strong. The band can craft poppy tunes but has a hard time staying focused. “MANIAC” opens with a punk beat but then bleeds into a catchy verse that is followed by a hardcore breakdown. This is really the pattern almost all of the songs on Rise Or Die Trying follow only they may start off poppy and then fall into a Boston punk sound or start out hardcore and flow into a poppier sound. Find some direction boys and you’ll be well on your way to some great tunes.