Source: Album artwork
Nowadays you can’t open a magazine or turn on the radio without a new pop punk band trying to latch onto the current craze like an attention-sucking leech. On The Open Road are the next band lurking in the underground waiting to burst out with their latest EP Storyteller.
As soon as ‘No Rush’ springs into life it is clear that quartet have one foot in the past, drawing upon the conveyor belt of Drive-Thru Records acts while planting the other firmly in the future with the pulsating hardcore that A Day To Remember have perfected, but it makes for a rather mundane listen.
Playing pop punk for the sake of it is not enough and unfortunately On The Open Road fall foul of it. At times the quartet are so predictable it is cringe. Take ‘Smooth Sailing Is A Fool’s Thought’ with its gang vocals and breakdowns the natural instinct would be to body slam whoever is within reach, but instead you’re left sulking at what could have been.
It is not all bad, though. ‘Regret Me Not’ perks up, channeling the energy of Mest with the infectious rhythms of Blink 182 with ease, while ‘Bedrock’ ditches the acoustic intro to reveal the EPs most delightful, and probably most original track. Bravo lads, bravo.
But it is not until the fury of ‘The Worst Guy’ windmills through that you really sit up and take notice. One made for the pit, this snarls and spits with pure punk aggression and leaves you wondering what has happened throughout the rest of the EP.
Storytelling is an art and so is making music. The trick is to make it engaging. Unfortunately, Storyteller has too few of theses moments.
