Even if you’ve never heard of Stickup Kid, you know the band’s type. It’s been one of the up-and-coming pop-punk bands since being founded in 2009 in San Jose, California. With a full-length and an EP under its belt, Stickup Kid are back with Future Fire, a terrific new record that shows the five-piece isn’t just a kid anymore.
Future Fire begins with the progressively alternative “Lost”. A slow, clean riff that recalls a distant memory of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Today”, “Lost” slowly builds up to a chorus full of beautiful harmonic “oohs” and the refrain, “Lost in your eyes”. The track descends into a pounding ending that still retains the soft “oohs” of before until it fades into the more standard pop-punk fare of “The Depths Of Me”. While the first song of Future Fire showed a slower, more mature and confident Stickup Kid, “The Depths Of Me” shows a band that remembers its roots but looks to the future of its sound. The familiar one-two drumbeat is there, but not as a crutch; instead, Stickup Kid use it quickly and tastefully to lead into a hook-ridden chorus and bridge.
Five tracks deep, “Keeping My Distance” rears its head to show that Stickup Kid aren’t a one-trick pony of a genre full of bands struggling to break out. The cut details the distrust of the narrator towards his partner and how difficult it is for him to stay away: “In spite of all my love for you / I’m keeping my distance”. On top of the heavy theme and complex narrator, Stickup Kid’s music hearkens back to Third Eye Blind’s early alternative sound. Stickup Kid hits a great groove with strong guitars and vocals that round out the track as one of the best off Future Fire.
While Stickup Kid hits the right notes more often than not, the hiccups on Future Fire arise from trying an array of new things. While deep-hitting tracks like “Keeping My Distance” and “Lost” keep the emotion and musicianship firing on all cylinders, the major misstep of Future Fire is slowing things down to the point of “Gotten Away”. While one’s not expecting Stickup Kid to break the genre barrier every time a new song is written, one would hope the band avoids the now-clichéd pitfalls of a generically sounding, radio-rock-esque song. Nonetheless, “Gotten Away” does not sink Future Fire’s fantastic ship.
Future Fire ends on the great note of “Tailwind”, which shows how Stickup Kid can infuse its old sound with the new in a perfect way of showing what’s to come. The band’s second album is a way to show a different side, try new things, and broaden its appeal to a genre much in need of a facelift, and Stickup Kid accomplishes all of these and more: it gives us a taste of what’s to come now that the band is that much closer to finding a sound unique unto itself.
Tracklist:
1. Lost
2. The Depths Of Me
3. What's Missing
4. Good People In A Place I Hate
5. Keeping My Distance
6. Chariot
7. Through The Night
8. Gotten Away
9. This Is Over
10. Wasted
11. Tailwind
RIYL: Third Eye Blind, early All Time Low, Yellowcard
Rating:
Written by Joe Wasserman
