I’m not a huge pop-punk fan. Let us be honest here, modern day pop-punk is more pop than punk, in fact, I would go as far as saying most bands that say they are pop-punk are probably more pop-emo but there we go. Four Year Strong aren’t a band I have come across much. I knew of their existence but it wasn’t until I saw the ‘It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong‘ video on Scuzz that I actually heard them and checked them out. Sadly though, I just didn’t get it, cool single, absolutely brilliant fun video, but in terms of musicality it was all very much the same as what I’ve heard before.
‘The Security of The Familiar‘ is the second single from their latest (fourth) album, ‘In Some Way, Shape, or Form‘. Frankly I don’t see what the fuss is all about with this band. Sure they are forever touring and working hard, sure they have been lucky to get the right contacts (initially signing with ex-Fallout Boy‘s Pete Wentz’s label) but it literally sounds like everything else coming from that scene. Bands like Fallout Boy may have had a lot of haters (mainly down to their mainstream popularity) but at least they were something different, they had little quirks that set them apart from the thousands of yank bands that reach UK shores but Four Year Strong, it’s just same old same old, unimaginative music.
I loved this style of music when I was seventeen, that’s nine years ago now, and hearing Four Year Strong it’s clear that the scene is as stagnant and unimaginative as it ever was. Avoid unless you’re already a fan.
[Rating: 1.5]
www.fouryearstrongmusic.com
