Album Reviews

On “Before It Caves” A Loss For Words have pulled out all the stops and went completely pop-punk on our asses. That that is not necessarily a bad thing is proven with opening track “Distance”, where vocalist Matty Arsenault is joined by PVRIS’ Lynn Gunn. And while we’re on the subject of guest vocals… The Wonder Years’ Soupy helps out on “Conquest Of Mistakes” and Jimmy Stadt of Polar Bear Club beefs up “No Pioneer”.

Not that A Loss For Words needs these guest vocals to make an impression… they’ve been around long enough to know all of the tricks of the trade. It’s both their forte and their biggest shortcoming. While all of the songs come packed with lots of energy, sweet hooks and solid riffs these guys probably whip up in no time, the songs all start to blend together after a while. And by the time the token acoustic song rolls around in the form of “Brace Yourself”, you should have had sufficient time to come up with a long list of similar-sounding albums.