Source: Album Cover
Ever heard of an Italian pop/punk-rock band? Well now you have. Over is a five-piece female fronted alternative band from Italy, who are releasing their debut album Is This Growing Up? soon. They are a band who enjoy a bit of everything, so you may just find they could appeal to you. Ranging from hardcore screams to punk rock, Over may be that new band you need in your life.
Listeners are slowly brought into the album with an techno sounding intro ‘Growing Up’, which leaves us quickly and kicks off with ‘Wrong For You’. Over have a similar sound to that of We Are The In Crowd, yet Linda Battilani’s has arguably sweeter vocals. Straight away the mood is set, and it is clear the album title will remain literal to the theme of the album. ‘Wrong For You’ tackles the idea of having to let go of something you believe cannot happen, or deciding what risks should be taken. Slightly cliche, but it has a catchy rhythm and contains some nice guitar solos within the track.
Similarly it follows onto the next stage of growing up, to ‘Let It Go’. Discussing the traited song we all know too well, about being drowned in our thoughts and to let it go. However this is when we get a more pop-punk sound from the band, which suits the mood quite well.
‘The Promise’ is also featured on the debut, which was the first single released from album. The track encapsulates all the sounds that are present throughout the album. We dare say it is slightly reminiscent of early Paramore. We also get the first intro of screams which don’t overpower anything, but also don’t really add anything to the already pop-rock sound. However, tracks such as ‘Runaway’ really use the screaming affect well. And is arguably the most catchy track on the album.
And just when you thought they tried it all, Over have even supplied a slow track. ‘Last Time’ isn’t our favourite track by any means, but we can appreciate the band trying to really vary the sounds over the album. It can be seen as affective in the sense that growing up is a variety of emotions and phases, but it does make it difficult if you only want to hear one hardcore sound throughout. If you like a lot of pop-rock, then Over may be for you.
Is This Growing Up? manages to include something for everyone, in both the musical and emotional sense. The album is packed with subject matters that is relatable to everyone. The journey you took growing up is displayed within the album of discovering yourself and facing the struggles it entailed. We found it also makes the reader occasionally question the process and maybe we all took some things for granted. Over cleverly manages to include all this with a balance of upbeat tracks and passionate melodies.
