‘Rancid Reviews’ discusses A Day To Remember and their album, ‘Homesick’

Hello and welcome to Rancid Reviews! If you’ve just read the title, you know what’s coming.

‘Da da da da da da da da da da da/ Da da da da da da, da da- LET’S GO!!’

I think we all knew this would be a thing… I did want to hold off a little bit longer before writing about this band, but due to the current social climate, and the fact that I actually don’t know many upbeat ‘Happy’ bands… My hands are kind of tied. I don’t really enjoy writing about more successful mainstream bands… But before you all start to hate me, allow me to make my case. And who knows, maybe I’ll actually have some fun.

So, I’m sure you all know who this band is, but I'll give you a brief history. A Day To Remember (Often abbreviated to ADTR) is a band from Florida who started out in the year 2003. Despite a challenging start, ADTR has sustained a very successful career and is held up as mainstream favourites with many rock fans. This band is probably best known for creating their own unique genre. The members of ADTR were fans of both heavier and softer music, so rather than having to choose between one or the other, they decided to have their cake and eat it by combining Pop-Punk and Hardcore Metal to create the genre known half-jokingly, half seriously as ‘Easycore’. This is a style of music which takes the catchy choruses and young adult angst of Pop-Punk and Emo, and smashes them together with false chord vocals, breakdowns and blast beats more commonly found in Hardcore Punk and Metal. ADTR does a good job of melding these rather different genres seamlessly. Other bands such as Four Year Strong and Chunk! No Captain Chunk would eventually come to follow their Easycore example, but I think generally ADTR has been a huge influence in the Metalcore scene as a whole.

They definitely deserve respect for their pioneering spirit and their music is actually pretty good. It’s easy to see why they’re so popular. Hell! There was a time in my teen years where they were a firm favourite for me too. But over the years I've kind of grown to find them a bit... boring? Don’t get the wrong idea here. I don’t hate this band. But there are so many bands at this point who, even if they don’t adopt Easycore, still take a lot of influence from ADTR and their genre, particularly Metalcore and Pop-Punk bands. And that’s not a bad thing, I mean they have to get their influence from somewhere, but the same ideas continue to trickle down into the same groups, creating a music scene that’s a bit too unoriginal. Because so many bands sound almost exactly the same, after a while it’s easy to get a little disenfranchised with rock music. Even if there are bands that stick out as unique.

Nevertheless, it’s safe to say that some of ADTR’s earlier work still stands out as some of the best music from the 2000’s, and you know me. The 2000’s is clearly my favourite decade. Their second and third albums ‘For Those Who Have Heart’ and ‘Homesick’ are probably their best known musical works, and who knows, some of their more recent stuff is probably very capable too. But I think we can all agree that ‘Homesick’ is one of the more well renowned. Despite not having listened to this band for a long time, I still have ‘Homesick’ in my CD collection, and in preparation for this review, have spent the early afternoon singing and moshing to it as I please. It’s been a pleasant reminder of my youth, and a welcome soundtrack for the brightening and warming of the weather outside, even if we can’t venture out too far. So let’s get into this a bit more.

‘Homesick’ was released in 2009 and it was probably the album that brought a big chunk of fans into the ADTR fray. While I have no doubt that their first two albums were very personal as well as successful to the band’s legacy, ‘Homesick’ seems to carry a little more maturity with its layout. The tracklist is a little more varied than ‘For Those Who Have Heart’ and features a few pumped up softer songs as well as their typical mashups, (Thank you Jeremy Mckinnon’s Mum). Actually I do think this album is the most synonymous with ADTR’s widespread acclaim, and that seems to come from the fact that maybe there’s a bit more to offer here for people of different preferences. Fans of heavier music will probably enjoy tracks such as ‘Mr Highway’s Thinking About The End’, ‘Welcome To The Family’ and ‘You Already Know What You Are’, songs which delve more into the structure and vocal styling of Metalcore. Fans of Pop-Punk will edge more towards ‘NJ Legion Iced Tea’, ‘Another Song About The Weekend’ and the album’s title track, ‘Homesick’, all of which are a bit more cleaner. You, of course, have a few songs that typically sit in the in-between zone of these two barriers so it’s not too hard to find something you’ll like out of it.

While I’m someone who can enjoy most of the songs on ‘Homesick’, my personal favourite is ‘I’m Made Of Wax Larry, What Are You Made Of?’ Because honestly, how can you not?. ‘I’m Made Of Wax Larry’ kind of stands out as one of those fan favourites which everyone will love, even if it’s not the heaviest or fastest. It’s a bit like ‘The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle’ from ‘For Those Who Have Heart’ in style. They both have more of a Post-Hardcore leaning, which for me personally is more of a preference. They have heavy aspects to them, sure, but they still stick and return to their emotive core and structure, and in comparison to the more Hardcore tracks, this kind of thing is a bit more of my jam. But generally, if you do prefer straight Post-Hardcore like I do, I would still recommend giving this a try. Musically, this album is one of the best examples of ADTR I know of.

But there seems to be a growth of lyrical maturity in this album too. The themes and subject matter are a little more interesting and consistent than has been heard in their previous work. ‘Homesick’ is generally an album about getting out of your home town and going on tour, the excitement of traveling and seeing new things as well as the complications with being away from home and having to be cooped up in a tour bus. This isn’t necessarily a new topic for the band, as songs about their legacy and their startup as a group have been relatively common, but I think they put a little more thought into these songs. Many lines from ‘Homesick’ such as the intro to ‘Downfall Of Us All’ and ‘DISRESPECT YOUR SURROUNDINGS!’ from ‘Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End’ have already gone down in short history as favourite catchphrases for ADTR fans. But in general, they’re lyrics aren’t anything too amazing. I don’t know, maybe I’m being a bit unfair. But their lyrical content doesn’t really do it for me. Despite featuring some cool catchphrases I find them to be a bit immature and unoriginal.

 A Day To Remember should be commended for many things. They’ve created their own unique style and become a hallmark influence for current, new and up and coming groups. But within a sea of many, many, many contemporaries, maybe they’re beginning to lose their unique charm and staying power. But then what do I know? I haven’t really followed their career too extensively. Maybe they’ve found new ways to push their music. Or maybe they’re still writing more songs about hating their town and wanting to get out of it? If they are then maybe it’s a good thing I checked out when I did. I don’t get a lot out of an ADTR song. There’s very little in the lyrics, especially that gives me something to think about. Maybe I’m missing something. But I do get a lot of good times from the actual music which is a varied and energetic mix you can have fun with during nice weather and summer parties.

 More often than not, what we really want out of music is something that’s personal, in-depth and emotional. The quality of a band and their music is judged by how much they make you think, and I do agree that that is important. But sometimes, I see no problem with listening to music just for the sake of listening to it. We all stick to our favourite stuff a little too much for certain reasons (I’ve been guilty of that myself) and sometimes it’s good to try something a little different. Something you don’t have to think about too much. Something that you can just put on in the background and have a fun time with. As far as I’m concerned, that's what A Day To Remember is best for. But you know what, if you guys get something out of it that I don’t, that’s wonderful. I salute you! But for me personally, I think I can conclude this the way I started it. A Day To Remember isn’t a real favourite, but at the right time and in the right place, it can make for a good listen.

 So with that in mind, I’d like to give A Day To Remember a 7/10. I wonder if I’m being a little too generous, but again I don’t hate them. I will also give a 7/10 to ‘Homesick’ which again is a strong album and I suppose the closest thing to a favourite by this band, but I can’t personally say it deserves more than that.

 I think I'd better start looking into some new bands for the next few reviews. A Day To Remember will probably keep you guys happy, but I personally need something I can sink my teeth into a bit more. I’ll see you all next week.