I’ve always had a bit of a thing for Punchline. I think they write catchy pop songs without ever falling back on fashionable trends or the cheese factor to get their point across. After leaving Fueled By Ramen earlier this year the band have clearly had all that in mind when writing this album – it’s about as fashionable as men wearing skirts. It doesn’t sound like anything that’s popular right now – which is both a good and bad thing.
Good because it’s a refreshing listen. The band sound a bit all over the place though, at times like the band of old, at others they sound like a 90s rock band (‘Get Off My Train!’) while at others they sound like Foo Fighters. And therein lies the problem; will the real Punchline please stand up?
Their identity crisis is half admirable and half annoying. A band clearly reaching out and trying to mature as musicians is always worthy of praise, but this record doesn’t really flow all that well as it jumps around in styles. It sounds like an ‘old’ record in terms of production; it’s less ‘clean’ than previous records and I’m sure that is deliberate. And there are some very good songs here which suit the change in style, with ‘The Hit’ and ‘Developing You, Camera’ enjoying the new lease of life. But overall this is a little clumsy…it’s good but perhaps not as good as it could be.
An admirable take on doing something different, but the execution isn’t quite there.