Band: Addison Park
Album: Seven
Best Element: Great harmonies, catchy riffs
Genre: Pop punk
Website: http://www.purevolume.com/addisonpark/
Label: Self-Released
Contact: Swiveljet@aol.com
Pop punk is a genre that has been played to its core. Hundreds of bands have emerged from garages in the suburbs of America to make a sound that slightly tweaks or maybe even improves on the methods of the Fall Out Boys and the New Found Glories of the world. So what’s so different about Addison Park, a group of guys from ‘burbs of Chicago, and their early 2006 release Seven?
What really stands out on a couple of tracks that set the band apart from most other bands in their genre are Danny Casady’s ‘80s-tastic but still very intriguing keyboard parts. It is especially prevalent on the almost-too-catchy track “Apperception.”
Okay, so maybe the boys have some cliché lyrics (“One / You could hate me / Two / You could love me / On the count of three I could give you my reasons to die”). The majority of their lyrics follow the same pattern, with lots of tears and hearts and love and hate and pain. That is definitely the Park’s weak point.
However, where the band lacks in original lyrical themes, they make up threefold with their riffs. When Glenn Eck’s guitar isn’t rocking out to its fullest potential, songs like “While You Sleep,” “This Time Last February,” and “Amor Vincit Omnia” have more chill, but still very intricately done, guitar parts. Brian Weber’s vocals in each song are also something to be envied by other suburbanites that try for a career in punk music.
The album may only have seven songs, but it’s actually quite innovative for its genre. With a sound that’s very crisp, it’s hard to believe that these guys aren’t on a major label.
-Evan Minsker
Resident Rockologist
Waldofan13@aol.com