Yellowcard
Paper Walls

THE REVIEW

From the outset, I was slightly skeptical when I found myself, somewhat by chance and without having had the material need to listen to it until then, with the latest Yellowcard CD.

Truth be told, as a fan of the genre, I was fairly familiar with the band, enough to be sure I wouldn't be missing much. This is because (my personal theory, but perhaps extendable to others) I've always considered Yellowcard as the blood cousins of Blink-182. Naturally, the comparison is anything but benevolent in favor of the San Diego trio, given their mediocre musical offerings (with rare exceptions).

Our 'Yellow Cards' have a great advantage: having a violinist in the lineup who brings a breath of fresh air to the sound; however, I'm far from considering this a magical invention, as the same could be said for the NOFX trumpet and so on, but it nonetheless remains a very positive element. Yet, they also inherit the same flaws from the aforementioned group.

Now let's talk a bit about the album. Based on the premise that I didn't know what to expect from the CD, bearing in mind that according to the public and critics, their best album is "Ocean Avenue," which, after listening to a few tracks, didn't convince me at all.

I could simply say listen to tracks x, y, and z and skip all the others, and stamp my honest 2/5 and leave it at that, but let's discuss it a bit.

The positive aspect of the album is certainly varying the sounds from the classic milky pieces stained with dark flakes of coffee (pop-punk) transitioning to slower and more melodic pieces with pop-rock sounds, trying not to bore the listener.

Unfortunately, the whole thing lacks that something extra to elevate the musical offering, adding the disadvantage of seasoning it all with often too sticky refrains (incidentally, of which Blink-182 were masters in the negative sense of the term).

But let's go in order..

The initial double takes the center stage, excellent opener "The takedown" very tight and direct, complete with a solo first of guitar and then of violin, it turns out to be the best of the album. On a different note, "Fighting" is a classic punk collage piece with catchy choruses and reasonably successful which seems to come out of "Ocean Avenue."

Then come the missteps when the band tries to combine forced melodies with more rock tones ("Shrink the world"), ending up self-destructing with the poor "Light up the sky."

The other two noteworthy pieces, along with the first two, are "Five becomes four" and "Shadows and regrets."

The first piece reminds us that these are the Yellowcard of "Radio song girl", here dominated by the good precise and squared drumming of the drummer and the very gritty guitars. A piece that, given its typically hc new school style pace, is very reminiscent of bands like Lagwagon and the last NUFAN.

"Shadows and regrets" is instead a semi-acoustic ballad that represents the most emotional moment of the album. Appreciable, even if it does not reach the peaks of "Only one." Finally, note the curious white voices that dot the title track "Paper walls." The rest is frankly negligible and does not present interesting ideas other than the boredom that sets in almost immediately.

The lyrics talk about friendship, love, autobiographical themes, and the relationships between band members in "Five becomes four" which deals with the departure of their guitarist.

To be listened to only if you are a fan of the band or if you want to listen to a record without many expectations and pretensions. But in the same genre, there's much better.