Taking Back SundayTidal Wave

Hopeless Records/UNFD
16th September, 2016
6
Haven't lost their touch.

Taking Back Sunday have nothing left to prove and no agenda to follow. The New York five-piece ruled the noughties with four killer LPs. We got a middling self-titled album before pulling it together for 2014’s Happiness Is. Now, they’re back for a seventh record—removed of any hype and expectation.

Tidal Wave sounds like five old friends making the music they want. It’s an enviable place for the band to be. But do all these warm feels make for a great record? Almost. There are some storming cuts here—absolute top-of-the-line TBS. But these euphoric bursts of post-hardcore perfection are sandwiched between tracks that have every intention of making an impact, but for one reason or another just miss the mark. For each All Excess and Call Come

Running—all soaring choruses and pointed guitar work—there’s an I Felt It Too or Homecoming; listless tracks that apply the brakes on momentum previously generated.

They might be losing a little bit of their edge, but Taking Back Sunday certainly haven’t lost their touch.

If you’re concerned TBS could be getting too old for this young man’s game, opener Death Wolf quickly puts your fears to rest. Adam Lazzara is at his microphone-swinging best, and the shifting tempos and tones cutting every which way start your heart in an instant. It’s the high-water mark of Tidal Wave. And though the album fails to match that unpredictable intensity again, there’s more than enough goodness here to confirm Taking Back Sunday are maintaining their legacy. May they keep their tender hearts firmly on their collective sleeve.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Death Wolf, All Excess, In The Middle Of It All
STICK THIS NEXT TO: The Used, The Mission In Motion, Brand New


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