"What separates me from you" review

A Day To Remember is a very peculiar band, you don't find that kind of sound normally, i mean, you can listen to a lot of punk rock bands and also post-hardcore metal bands, but, a band that can mix it in a way that fits perfectly? This is what mainly defines the sound of the punk-rock band from Florida(when saying punk rock band i'm not pretending to place them in an unique genre, its just my opinion about their genre).
The very good fact about this band is that each album sounds very new, but being faithful to the band's tune, this has led them through the right way as their sound cannot be heard anywhere.
Their latest studio album "What separates me from you" is the main character of this post, and this are my thoughts about it:
First of all, and before telling you my minds about the album, it's very crucial to talk about the producer. For some people, the producer is just the guy that mixes the sounds and edits the album, but believe me, the producer takes part in the album as another band member. In this album, the band decided to work with the same producer of their previous work: "Homesick". I am referring to New Found Glory's guitarist Chad Gilbert. For those of you that have heard the album and have also listened to New Found Glory, you may have matched the tunes similars in the record. I'm not saying that the albums sound the same, not at all, what I'm saying is that, in this album you see that the punkish side of the band has more importance than the metal one.
Talking now about the album, as I said before, the band has got to a point where they can perfectly mix unmixable genres, and that's how the album starts actually. "Sticks and bricks" is the kick-off of the album, a verse loaded with the best screamo version Jeremy Mckinnon (singer) and heavy guitars, leading to a way more slight chorus with melodic riffs and a background guitar that defines the mix of sounds I told you about. In my opinion, this is the best song to start the album, is like of the band wanted to tell their fans that they are still A Day to Remember, punk, rock and post-hardcore.

Then, the album is followed by the first single of the band and a very punk rocky song, "All I want". This song is one of my favorites of the album, it shows how a punk rock song can sound so rocky that you want to bounce and bounce all over again.

The album contains a bunch of songs that have that punky side of the band I mention. Here, it is very easy to see how the work of Chad Gilbert has influenced the record. Actually, there is a dramatic change in Jeremy's voice from screamo to a more soft tune that reminds me sometimes of Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stumps. It blows my mind the fact that Jeremy has such ability to sing in diferent tunes in the same song.

This punk-rocky tunes I've mentioned can be perceived in songs like "Better off this way","Out of Time","If I leave" , "All signs point to lauderdale", "This is the house that doubt built" and "It's complicated", which is more pop-punky. The band recently record the acoustic version of the song, you can see it here:

Video for "All I Want", in this video you can see a lot of famous faces, the video was made with friends of the band singing the song:

"All signs point to lauderdale":

Then, there's the other side of the album, the one that follows a way more post-hardcore style. I have to admit that I'm not an inconditional fan of screamo and hardcore, but actually, I dont know how, but this band seems totally different from every screamo band to me. And I think that it happens to more people. In my opinion, a band that always sings screaming ends up boring you, but these guys mix it with punk melodies and kickass guitars. In this side of the album we find hits such as "2nd sucks" and "You be tails, I'll be sonic", this song relies in the hardcore verse and just before the chorus there is a breakdown that ends up in a melodic chorus with Jeremy singing with that peculiar sound which seems to be between hardcore and pop-punk.

Talking about the lyrics contained in the songs, for those who know the writing style of Jeremy Mckinnon, know that he normally writes about sad stuff, and also shows his anger. ''All the things you love, are all the things I hate" (You be tails, I'll be sonic), "I speak the truth and everyone knows it, so set your ego to the side and get the f**k over(2nd sucks). ''You can other issues like being better off without a girlfriend'' (All signs point to lauderdale). But, don't underestimate the band, though this issue the bands signs about seem to be the tipical punk-rock songs, the band has developed a lot and is more mature in terms of sound (because in other terms they do still behave like kids, which is awesome).

All in all, I have to admit that I discovered this band just a year ago and I wasn't a big fan, but, lately,  I've been listening to them a lot and, if you listen to their records properly, you can appreciate the work behind the sound and the quality of it. I hope this guys keep creating new music because, as people say, they are like wine, they get better with time.

Hope you like it.

@Nachorock