Album Reviews

On their Equal Vision Records debut EP, House Parties dish out bouncy, almost sickeningly sweet pop punk. The Dallas, Texas-based trio - vocalist Chaney Elaine, guitarist Spencer Trinidad and drummer Wesley K. Jones - do everything that is expected of a modern-day pop punk band on ‘Side Effects,’ but fail to add anythin their own. Gotta hand it to them, they sound remarkably well-rounded on the Seth Henderson and State Champs frontman Derek DiScanio produced EP, especially for a band that started out just four years ago and released one EP previously, but unfortunately, the songs also come off as generic and the production job makes the whole thing sound too clean for its own good.

Sure, ‘Braindead’ is a bouncy tune and ‘Midlife Crisis’ has a fun chorus, but the melodies, rhythms and... well, everything really, all come off sounding like a paint by numbers job. Add an obligatory and über-cheesy ballad called - not kidding - ‘Waterworks’ and lyrics that - like every other song these days - deal with mental health and anxiety, and you are looking at an EP that is entirely underwhelming.