The Album:

Since it had been two years since Like Pacific put out a full-length album, audience members were growing anxious for new music by the band. With that being said, when “In Spite of Me” was welcomed to the world, fans blew up the hype for it, so let’s talk about why. When listening to this album, it is prevalent right off the bat, that this album was and is going to scream “Like Pacific”, there is not a doubt about that. With that classic sound, the band is able to draw in old fans as well as new ones, for their music drives within that heavily, almost strict, pop punk sound. However, the band provides some key tactics throughout the album that helps their album to stand out and not become an overly generic pop punk release. Some of those things include the vocalist’s variety of vocal techniques, which span from his normal singing voice to a raw, yelled technique where the audience can hear the passion in his voice. Along with this, the band provides the audience with doubled rhythms across several different tone colors, which provides them with a more dense picture while creating something that sounds overly cool. From here, the band is able to give their audience more ornate rhythms because it gives them the chance to play with rhythms that juxtapose one another by the big and little beats of each musical phrase. Overall, I am giving this album a 3.5 out of 5 stars. This was a hard album to score, but I landed on this score for a few reasons. The first reason is that a lot of the songs on this album sound similar, which does create a nice groove for the audience to jump on and ride to the end, but some people may become bored quickly. However, the album does give the audience materials that will be great for live performances, so it’s still not a bad release by any means.

 

Top Tracks:

“In Spite of Me”, “Sedatives”, and “Something Missing”

As stated in the general review of the album, the bulk of the material presented on this record resonates in a similar light. However, when listening to these tracks, the audience is given that root Like Pacific sound that they’ve come to know and love. But, that’s not all. These tracks also have a dash of innovation to them, for there is something special within each track that gives it that extra push to keep the listeners intrigued, so if you were to check out a few tunes from this release, it should be these.

 

The Artwork:

 When glancing at the album cover, without even considering the music, it is inviting, for it draws the audience in with its bright colors as well as the stain glass style in which it portrays. Once the audience looks a tad deeper at the art, it is apparent that there are images behind the different colors within the stain glass window. This gives the audience a tad bit of foreshadowing for what is to come, musically speaking. When connecting the music to the artwork, it can be said that not only do the pictures in the window reflect the meaning behind certain emotions and lyrics on the album, but the colors also symbolize those direct emotions. This will help tie the full picture of the album together. The biggest smack, for me, was the overall color of the album mixed with the title of the record “In Spite of Me”. The primary color of the album is yellow, a color that is supposed to symbolize life, happiness, and joy, and with the title of the record in mind, it only enhances that thought of disregarding me, keep going, it’s going to be okay.

*”In Spite of Me” was released on July 27, 2018 through Pure Noise Records.