With Yellowcard recently calling it quits it only made sense for us to finally do a Yellowcard album. I am more of a fan of these guys than my co host is but we both enjoy em nonetheless. Yellowcard have been around quite a while and actually started out as a pretty different band that what we now know.
Not only was Ryan Key not the original singer but the original Yellowcard had more of a hardcore punk sound. Kinda cool. But this was the first album to feature Ryan Key and solidify the style and sound we now know as Yellowcard. Not quite as pop rock as Ocean Avenue and a little more intricate “One For The Kids” really kills it in own style of blending pop punk with some really cool violin craftmanship.
The drummer, Longineu W Parsons III, does a phenomenal job and holding the entire band together. His drumming style matches the pop punk vocals of Key but adds a punk edge to really blend the album to an actually enjoyable Yellowcard album that isn’t so whiney and weak. The little nuances of this album elevate it into something really great. The harmonics they use as intros, the violin fills, the drop d tunings, and the totally acoustic tracks that are thrown in round this album as something every pop punk kid can get behind.
Yellowcard’s first 3 albums didn’t really catch on. They have put out some cool stuff after this album but nothing has ever really impressed me quite like this one. Nostalgia aside, it still kicks ass.
Notable Tracks:
Big Apple Heartbreak, Rock Star Land, Cigarette
Asinine Radio 