Album Reviews

It’s not that I didn’t like “Angst” when it came out. It was a decent enough pop punk album, but the songs on there didn’t offer anything that helped set Handguns apart from the rest of the pack. Has that problem been resolved on the band’s latest full-length “Life Lessons”? Nope, not really.

These guys still crank out decent enough pop punk that is high on energy, bounces all over the place and which has plenty of hooks up for sale. It’s just that for the life of me I can’t find anything about them that differentiates them from bands like Man Overboard, New Found Glory, Set Your Goals or … (fill in name of random pop punk band here).

So what we are looking at here is an okay album by an okay band and if you think that is what your collection needs, then by all means pick up a copy of “Life Lessons” now. If you are looking for something slightly innovative or for the kind of lyrics that dig just a little deeper than the usual clichés associated with the genre, then you’re going to have to look elsewhere.