Review: Amber Pacific - Truth In Sincerity
Posted on 17 August 2007 | 2 Comments
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Pop, Punk
--
When the intro of the new Amber Pacific album Truth In Sincerity kicked in with its overly dramatic piano and synthesized strings I was thinking, “WTF is this?” The band was great at Warped Tour only a few weeks ago so only 30 seconds into the album I was completely underwhelmed. Luckily (however) the band kicks it into high gear and throttles right into a handful of ultra-catchy melodic pop-punk tracks. You know, stuff that sounds like MXPX and Strung Out circa 1997. The music is fast and tight. It is melodic, well-played, and for the first half of the album, really energized and a whole lot of fun.
Unfortunately after the first few standout songs, it all starts to sound very similar. Granted, Amber Pacific is a pop-punk band and Truth In Sincerity is a pop-punk album, but after the strong start, I was hoping for more. I obviously wasn’t expecting the next Dookie or Hello Bastards, but during the album’s second half, the synth strings heard in the intro creep back in and the songs just don’t pack the same punch as the first few did. Yeah, Mike Herrera of MXPX contributes guest vocals to a song but I already heard that song and it was better on the first half of the album. I’m still as big a pop-punk fan as I ever was but maybe I’m just too old and jaded and too difficult to impress.
As promising as the beginning of Truth In Sincerity (sans the intro) is, it would have ultimately been much better as a 5 song EP where only the strongest survive. The album is out now on Hopeless Records.
MP3 | Amber Pacific – Summer (In B) Truth In Sincerity
MP3 | Amber Pacific – Temporary Truth In Sincerity
Comments
Review: Golden City - 1 EP Review: Comadre - Burn Your Bones
