So Same As Sunday contacted me to see if I would review their upcoming EP. While I'm not the best with words, I agreed. Here are my thoughts.
Before getting into anything specific I can easily say "Earn Your Stripes" EP is by far the best effort the band has to date. Listening to this EP will make you completely forget about "Anthems From A Standing Eight" and turn last year's "The Dollar For Dollar EP" a distant memory.
Don't expect this to be your standard, cookie cutter Easycore release either. Same As Sunday aren't straight breakdowns, two steps, and gang vocals nor do they rely on a diet of guitar "chugs" to get through a song. The band shows an array of influences ranging from the Piano Rock intro on "The Opposite of Two" to the Hardcore style breakdown at the end of "Exits and Entrances". In fact there were more than a few occasions listening to the record that I could pinpoint definite hardcore influence, which is always a plus when you consider the amount of bands trying to pass off three minutes of poppy breakdowns as a song.
Same As Sunday offer up seven tracks and about 24 minutes of Pop Punk / Easycore without awkwardly placed breakdowns or even cashing in on new age trends. The band has definitely proved much more mature than I had previously thought. Don't take that previous statement to think that the band has dropped its sense of humor. The tongue in cheek, trend cynical humor we saw on "The Dollar For Dollar EP" is back and is most easily noticed on "No Ifs, Ands, Or Breakdowns".
After a few listens the most notable flaw with "Earn Your Stripes" EP became apparent. As much as I feel this band has matured, I still feel that the lyrics can be cheesy at times. While they have improved greatly over the course of each release, I feel the lyrics are definitely in need of improvement. However, the lyrics in no way make this release a difficult to listen to.
I can honestly say that when this band came to me with a new EP, I did not expect to be listening to the caliber of music that I heard on this release. For the most part I've been a fairly good judge of what fans of this genre will like, and I find it very easy to expect listeners to really enjoy this EP.
