ALBUM REVIEW: I Wish I Met You Sooner – Goalkeeper

Here we are introduced to the debut effort by GOALKEEPER, I Wish I Met You Sooner. They might be new on the pop-punk scene but already they’ve supported a multitude of well-known names like ALKALINE TRIO, BOWLING FOR SOUP and STATE CHAMPS. A strong start for the Philly trio, but does the hype live up to their full-length debut? Hell yes it does.

GOALKEEPER waste absolutely no time with opening track Car Wreck as they kick things off all guns blazing. With solid guitar riffs and fast drum beats that already compare to NECK DEEP, BROADSIDE and REAL FRIENDS, and with strong vocals that are reminiscent of Soupy from THE WONDER YEARS, we already have a winner. Sooner refuses to let up and already you can picture the chaos of a live show. With lyrics recounting the tale of an instant connection and wishing that you had met them sooner (hence the album title, hehe), it makes you smile as you think of that someone in your life, both in terms of friendship and romance.

And that’s the thing with this record, it makes you feel happy both in terms of lyrical content and the fast-paced instruments that makes you warm inside from the positivity and the nostalgia. It’s like a whole new comfort blanket, you could enter this album in a low mood and come out of it in a new and joyful demeanour.

That’s not to say there aren’t little moments of disappointment. The band’s attempts to be more serious and pondering with your standard slow songs, we’re looking at you Notice Me and Half In Half Out, which aren’t bad songs by any means, can feel rather cheesy or feature piano that feels a little out of place. Don’t get us wrong there are good moments but these factors are little distracting.

But that’s all easily forgiven with the remainder of the record. Our highlights include, but are not limited to, Talk About that brings in that early 00s nostalgia whilst still making it their own, and all you want to do is get up, dance and jump around; and Truth In A Frame which is a fast and fun song that’s easily reminiscent of NECK DEEP‘s What Did You Expect? all complete with a mini breakdown that makes you bop your head along unintentionally. There’s so much we could go on about but we’d be here for hours.

I Wish I Met You Sooner is a lovely breath of fresh air that allows you to escape from all of the rubbish in the world and leaves you feeling nostalgic and carefree. It’s comforting yet it feels unique. Overall, just a fantastic debut.

Rating: 8/10

I Wish I Met You Sooner is out now via Lost Music Collective/The Orchard.

Like GOALKEEPER on Facebook.