ALBUM REVIEW: All In – Amber Pacific
AMBER PACIFIC have returned with their first new album in eleven years. The pop-punk band from Washington formed in 2002, and became one of the defining names in the mid-2000s rock scene thanks to their 2005 debut album The Possibility and the Promise. The album saw them mixing with the likes of YELLOWCARD and THE ACADEMY IS…, and their 2007 follow-up Truth In Sincerity reached 64 in the Billboard Top 200, cementing the band’s popularity. After some line-up changes – including the brief departure of vocalist Matt Young – and two albums (2010’s Virtues and 2014’s The Turn), the band’s new album All In sees them look back on the past and towards the future.
Sink or Swim opens the album with an upbeat, guitar-driven song that sounds like the band have never left. They slip back into their pop-punk sound easily. Sometimes the production means that the instruments overwhelm the vocals, making them hard to hear, especially when the backing vocals come in during the last quarter of the song, causing it to sound a bit cluttered.
Thankfully, this is not the case for Young & Reckless, a short, upbeat song that is about the longing for nostalgia. The instruments are toned down compared to the previous song. This doesn’t mean that they are completely forgotten; in fact, it creates a nice balance between the vocals and the instruments. Whilst all the songs are between two to three minutes long – something that is a staple of pop-punk – they do not sound rushed or unfinished.
Whilst songs such as The Conqueror, Afloat, and Meant To Be are slower songs compared to the upbeat start of the album, they provide a welcome respite from the album becoming repetitive. Furthermore, they also are sonically diverse, such as Meant To Be having a folk-rock sound. However, this does not deter from the main pop-punk genre that dominates the album. Plus, there are moments during these songs that return to the upbeat tempo.
But it isn’t until the sixth song Unbroken that AMBER PACIFIC dedicate themselves to the up-beat songs. SOS (feat. Tony Lovato) is a fast-paced pop-punk song that is reminiscent of the opening two songs, although the chorus is a little repetitive, whereas One Step Away has mid-paced verses and a fast-paced chorus. Thankfully, the production of the album helps balance this out. Although Just Friends is a generic pop-punk song about heartbreak, The Hero or The Villain gets things back on track. The closing song is a full-circle moment because it’s an upbeat song that encapsulates the band’s energy, whilst also having some more mid-tempo moments.
The pacing of the album is fast-paced, although some of the songs in the middle of the album are slower-paced. This is because the songs all have a short runtime of between two to three minutes long. Although different sections of All In have different pacing and different sounds, some of the album does end up being a bit similar sound-wise, especially during the last half where there are a lot of fast-paced songs. But this is the band’s first musical release in a long time, so the band have plenty of time to improve.
Overall, All In is a great return for AMBER PACIFIC. Although it’s not perfect, this is their first release since 2014, and it sounds very good for a band who haven’t released new music in eleven years. Despite some of the album sounding similar, the band slip easily back into their roles and their pop-punk sound. They even explore some different genres in a few of the earlier songs that are possible hints at their future sound. The production on the album is good apart from a few instances when the songs either blend into each other or sound overcrowded. AMBER PACIFIC have made their grand return to music and it is a very good one indeed, indicating a bright comeback.
Rating: 7/10
All In is out now via Manic Kat Records.
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