EP REVIEW: Childhood Eyes – Yellowcard
After their reunion set at last year’s Riot Fest after several years away many fans were wondering what was to become of YELLOWCARD? The answer is an absolutely awesome EP. Childhood Eyes is dripping with pop-punk nostalgia, catchy rhythms, and a sound like they’d never even been on hiatus.
For their first new music in a long time, YELLOWCARD do it right with Three Minutes More featuring great vocals from PIERCE THE VEIL frontman Vic Fuentes. From the get-go, the vocals are desperate and soaring, with some excellent drum lines that really give a heavy feel to the track. It’s really like the guys never went away as this track should please even some of the earliest fans. This is pop-punk done right and sets a standard for the rest of the EP.
Recent single Childhood Eyes is bursting with blistering guitar parts that keep the song at a breakneck pace and don’t really let up. Singing about being defeated, broken down, betrayed, and still getting up and coming back stronger, this track hits hard with a relatable message and with overall spellbinding instrumental work. Speaking on the track, William Ryan Key said “I think it really captures the spirit of YELLOWCARD both old and new.” That’s exactly what they are going for and they have certainly achieved it here.
Hiding In The Light is a high-octane blood-pumping pop-punk track. It’s got some really great vocal parts with some effortless extreme pitch changes, and the bass features a little more heavily on this track which has some really catchy hooks. The guitar solos really show off a range of playing styles. Honest From The Jump is a big theatrical track. The vocals are really something else as they are at the forefront of this sonic offering and they take flight with ease. The guitar parts seamlessly switch from minimalist parts to huge distorted walls of sound, and the use of the violin further enforces the whole rock opera feel of this track. The song ends on just vocals which sets up the closing track.
The strongest track on the EP and one of the strongest tracks of YELLOWCARD’s long career is The Places We’ll Go. Featuring vocals from Chris Carrabba of DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, this is a much slower track than the rest of the EP and features mostly acoustic guitars and violin. It’s a lot more self-reflective and full of sad optimism. Key looks back at life and the things they’ve done and reflects on how fast time flies and it all culminates in a gorgeous melody that really defines where the band is right now at this point in time. The track swells toward the end before closing on a single acoustic guitar to bring Childhood Eyes to an end.
YELLOWCARD have been around since 1997 and really hit their stride with the pop-punk movement in the early 00s and yet they’ve returned right to the forefront of the genre today. Childhood Eyes just proves that these guys have stood the test of time as the tracks don’t feel out of time or place. If this is what the next chapter for YELLOWCARD sounds like then it seems the genre is in safe hands.
Rating: 8/10
Childhood Eyes is set for release on July 21st via Equal Vision Records/Rude Records.
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