ALBUM REVIEW: MAYDAY PARADE “MAYDAY PARADE”

Mayday Parade - Mayday Parade
Record Label: Independent Label Group
Release Date: October 4th, 2011

Ever since 2007, the Tallahassee natives, Mayday Parade, have taken the scene by storm with their ground-breaking, fan favorite album A Lesson in Romantics then two years later releasing the album Anywhere But Here. Though that album was definitely a sophomore slump compared to the power and emotion on Romantics, it was still a valiant effort. Now in 2011, after relentless touring, label changes, and growth as a band, Mayday is set to release their new self-titled album in October.

Mayday Parade kicks off with the first single the band released, “Oh Well, Oh Well,” which is not only the perfect way to start the album but is one of my favorite songs released this year. If you asked yourself after listening to that song back when it was released, “I wonder if this is how the album sounds as a whole,” you’d be correct. “Oh Well, Oh Well” is a great indication of how the album sounds. Mayday went back to their Romantics-era roots but kept up with the strong melodies that were present on Anywhere But Here. 

After the huge track that is “Oh Well, Oh Well” the band keeps the momentum going with “No Heroes Allowed,” which contains a killer chorus with lyrics to back up the punch. As Derek Sanders sings, “My hero, she’s the last real dreamer I know / and I can tell you all about her. /  I don’t think I can fall asleep till I roll over. / Can we just start over again? / And I can tell you all about how I don’t think I can fall asleep till then.” 

Halfway through the album brings the listeners what I believe to be the best two tracks Mayday Parade has ever written. The sixth song, “Stay,” is a beautiful piano led ballad that slowly picks up into a powerful full band epic that is outro-ed by a chorus-like chant of the song’s title that eventually burns out into a snare roll that leads immediately into the next track, “Call Me Hopeless, Not Romantic,” which is just as epic as the prior track “Stay.”

Needless to say, Mayday really stepped it up with this album. Whether it be the dual vocals between Sanders and drummer Jake Bundrick, the raw emotion in most, if not all of the tracks, or the ability that Mayday is now capable of writing pop punk songs again, but now with even more intricate instrumentals. With this new album, you can just forget that Anywhere But Here ever happened because this is the follow up to Romantics. 

 

Tracklisting:

1. Oh Well, Oh Well
2. No Heroes Allowed
3. When You See My Friends
4. You’re Dead Wrong
5. Priceless
6. Stay
7. Call Me Hopeless, Not Romantic
8. A Shot Across the Bow
9. Everything’s An Illusion
10. I’d Rather Make Mistakes Than Make Nothing At All
11. Without The Bitter The Sweet Isn’t As Sweet
12. Happy Endings Are Stories That Haven’t Ended Yet

MAYDAY PARADE IS:
Derek Sanders - Vocals
Alex Garcia - Lead Guitar
Brook Betts - Rhythm Guitar
Jeremy Lenzo - Bass
Jake Bundrick - Drums/Vocals 

»Sep. 2 @ 4:21PM | 215 notes