Four Year Strong – ‘analysis paralysis’

What happens if a much loved, widely adored pop punk band goes into a studio with no finished material, going into the recording process relatively blind with one of heavy music’s finest producers at the helm? If that band is Four Year Strong and the producer is Will Putney, it appears that absolute magic is the result. The Massachusetts powerhouses started the writing process for their brand new record ‘analysis paralysis’ with a blank slate, utilising the pressure to create something unlike anything they’ve ever made before. If you think you know them, it’s time to think again. 

There’s no easing in, no softness or nostalgic familiarity. Opener ‘aftermath/afterthought’ is an industrial-laced, Nine Inch Nails-goes-metalcore masterstroke, and the perfect way to kick things off. Putting a track so wildly different to their past output at the top end of a new album is meaningful. Experimental tracks dotted through a record is expected, demonstrating a band playing around with their sound, but putting something like this right at the start boldly says “we’ve changed.” This is not going to be what you expect, and there is plenty more where this came from. This is Four Year Strong 2.0.

Things begin to get a little more familiar with the hugely catchy ‘bad habit’, its chorus packing that sun-soaked hit the band have become so good at making, but there’s still an aggressive undertone to it that gives them a much sharper edge than they usually have. That breakdown has the potential to be lethal live. ‘uncooked’ is an upbeat bop with big hardcore vibes, ‘out of touch’ is a fist-pumping ballad hybrid, ‘rollercoaster’ is a white-knuckle blend of both; every track has its own genetic code, but they all very clearly belong to the same family.

This album isn’t all about the creative shift. There’s plenty of material that slots into their discography with ease, such as the towering ‘better get better’ and its irresistible dazzling aura, or the punchy and anthemic ‘paranoia’, the grooves of which you can picture getting a crowd pulsing within seconds. What’s special about this record, though, is that the familiar and comfortable tracks aren’t the ones that’ll have you initially reaching for the repeat button. 

Songs like the furious ‘daddy of mine’ and the heartbreaking riff-fest ’STFIL’ feel so fresh and exciting that it’s almost like listening to a new band. A band with a wealth of experience, finely tuning their songs with gusto. The emotional finale ‘how do i let you go?’ is a suspense filled spine-tingler, ending the record in the most grand and dramatic way. This album is a real breath of fresh air, and the creative risk they took making it has definitely paid off.

Easily the band’s most ambitious album, ‘analysis paralysis’ expands Four Year Strong’s sonic palette in a very confident and thunderous manner. The band haven’t just put out a powerful record, they’ve reinvented themselves too. This still has all of the characteristics that they’ve done such a good job of establishing over the years – the thick riffs, the irresistible rhythms, the enormous summery hooks – but the addition of that dark layer has amplified their punch tenfold.

Four Year Strong have, against all the odds, made an album that really pushes the boundaries of the genre they sit in, enhancing their own DNA along with it. This isn’t the record anybody was expecting them to make – it might not even be the record they expected to make – but it’s definitely the record we all needed. The bar has been raised.

DAVE STEWART