Pop Unknown continue to get better with each release. The August Division, the band’s first full-length since leaving Deep Elm, is by far their finest hour.
As played out as the whole Jimmy Eat World-clone thing is, some bands (like Time Spent Driving) still manage to wring out a decent album from the mold.
Santa Cruz represents! Both bands draw influence from hardcore, punk, and the Deftones. Sometimes jazzing it up, sometimes hanging from the heartstrings.
The production’s killer, the singing’s articulate, the emotions are well-balanced, the melodrama is turned down, and the instrumental dynamics are thought out.
While this has only one new song and a kinda beefier, rawer-sounding version of the hidden track on Everything Sucks, it’s got Milo on it. Ergo, it rocks!