Here's some classic Modern Baseball to get y'all going!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbrUzJlTffs
The album starts off with a short acoustic intro, “Holy Ghost”. Honestly, Modern Baseball have usually been pretty good with their intros, they’ve never overstayed their welcome and have always really done a solid job of setting the tone. This intro is a little different, though, it’s by far the band’s wordiest intro yet, and very abstract lyrically. Usually, it’s just a short semi-acoustic intro telling a sweet sappy story from one of the band’s two singers. Here, we’re getting a strictly acoustic intro with lyrics about….man I don’t really even know? I mean “Holy Ghost” does eventually go very smoothly into the next track. But, in the one minute it sticks around, “Holy Ghost” is pretty bizarre, and is a far left turn from goofy stories of awkward teenager that I’ve come to expect from Modern Baseball. It’s not awful, but man is it not what i expected at all. Up next, we have “Wedding Singer”, one of the earlier tracks released for the album. Instantly I’m thrown right back into the lives of the boys from Modern Baseball, with their upbeat sound and solid guitars (Yet slightly reserved as always, few times have I really heard them let loose). The first real huge difference you’re gonna hear here is the vocals, all around they’re just so much less whiny. This was one of the main problems I had with the band’s first album “Sports”, it was just so whiny and annoying. Their followup still had it’s moments of it from time to time, but it worked. Here, they sound so much more confident and self aware and I actually really love that. As far as lyrics go, “Wedding Singer” is more of exactly what you would expect from Modern Baseball, straightforward personal stories that make you feel like you know them personally. This is just a really straightforward great punk tune, and that hook before the second chorus is insanely memorable. The real star here though is the production. I know that this is the first time they haven’t handled the production themselves, but honestly so far they sound right at home, impressive. Up next we have “Note To Self”, which honestly sounds like a straight up classic emo jam (American Football, Sunny Day Real Estate, take your pick). The vocals here continue to really shine, they all sound so much older and so much more mature. Lyrically they’ve made huge leaps as well. I remember a few too many moments on “Sports” where I said out loud “Oh god who the hell cares”. Here, it’s just the opposite, as between “Holy Ghost” and the band’s last album I find myself in too many moments saying “Oh wow, I’ve been there, very cool”. The band sound very “together”, and while they’re still doing the same blend of emo/pop punk, they’re doing it much more maturely. “Mass” is up next, a shorter punchier track than the last few. This one is super upbeat and peppy, now Modern Baseball is giving off more Get Up Kids vibes. The backing vocals are solid, the lyrics are super personal, honestly this is what I love from them. “Mass” might be short, but it’s to the point and very memorable, well done boys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ECdGT4-LU
Now overall I really enjoy “Holy Ghost”, but there are a few really abstract weird moments on here as well. “Everyday” is a huge left turn from all of the other Pop Punk and Emo sounds were used to hearing from Modern Baseball. Now Lyrically, this sounds exactly as it should, but as far as the feel goes it’s completely different. Here, there’s little Pop Punk, Emo, or anything close. “Everyday” is a straight up Indie Rock tune, and it’s much slower and more performance driven than other moments here. The instrumental breakdown before the second chorus is a little cliche, but for the most part Modern Baseball pull this sound off. They can still tell a story so well, and while there are a few “out there” lyrical moments for the most part they remain relatable. Up next we have “Hiding”, which lyrically and instrumentally sounds very much like what I’m used to hearing from them. But here, it’s just a little too goofy for my liking, that line about the forgetting to water the plants is just terribly corny. Not to mention for like a split second halfway through this track there's a huge blast of industrial noise for literally a fraction of a second, and that’s the only time we hear that, completely bizarre. “Hiding” isn’t the worst track here, but it just takes so long to pick up, not to mention I’ve just heard better from them in the past. And it’s a shame, because once the track does pick up I’m totally fine with it, it really didn’t need all the buildup here. I just can’t really get into “Hiding”, same goes for “Apple Cider I Don’t Mind”. This track starts up with Modern Baseball at a comfortable pace starting smoothly. But as the track goes on, they show me absolutely nothing new. The vocals here sound so weak, and as far as the lyrics go I feel like this is a track we’ve heard from them maybe 10 times now. Once again, it’s not completely unlistenable, I’ve just heard so much better here. And then we have “What If…”, probably the strangest track on here. The instrumentals here are completely left field, almost sounding chaotic, almost diving into the Post Hardcore genre as far as instrumentals go. It’s not bad at all, it’s actually exciting, but lyrically this one goes completely over my head. However, the band pulls it together for a really super catchy chorus. Overall “What If..” isn’t bad, but I feel like Modern Baseball is a little too out of their comfort zone here.
Like I said though, overall I really do enjoy Holy Ghost” quite a bit. “Coding These To Lukens” early on in the album is exactly what I want to hear from Modern Baseball. The riff is strong, almost a little funky, but while it’s a little different for them they completely nail it. The lyrics are great, and the guys just really sound like they’re in their comfort zone in the best way. Then we have “Breathing In Stereo”, one of the most aggressive tracks I’ve ever heard Modern Baseball touch. The slower section comes out of nowhere but they pull it off solidly, and Modern Baseball here sound actually pissed off, something I’m not really used to hearing from them. Then we have the album’s finales “Just Another Face”. The track starts off with this great building beat, and honestly some of the more wacky lyrics Modern Baseball has to offer here. But it works great, Modern Baseball sound just as comfortable as you can ask, and end up pulling off one of the most solid tracks here. Plus, that chorus is easily the most memorable one of the album, solid work gentlemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UIakW8wuk8
Rating : 7.7/10
Give A Listen To: "Wedding Singer" "Breathing In Stereo", "Just Another Face", "Coding The To Lukens".
Overall Thoughts: For the first album that these guys have released not taking care of production themselves, they actually sound pretty comfortable with it. Lyrically, they're still the goofy awkward guys at a party, but it's what we've come to know them as for years, and up against this much clearer production it sounds solid. I feel like they've given up some of their melodies in spots, and I do still like "You're Gonna Miss It All" a little bit more. But the band is in a great spot in their career, they're pushing their sound into completely new areas and I'm excited to see what they do next.
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