Pop-punk is increasingly seen as a formulaic copy of Green Day and Blink 182 covers with rearranged lyrics, but City Lights sets out to prove that wrong with a tightly produced mix that covers all the bases – from the upbeat “Where You Been” to the nostalgic “Please Let Me Know.”
The one gripe I have with the album is probably more a sign of my age than a legitimate gripe. The album as a whole feels a little forced and confused, as if they covered all of their bases systematically rather than organically. “Please Let Me Know” gives off the feeling of nostalgia, of time spent and lessons learned. The opening lines – “When we were kids, things were so different. People didn’t spend all their time talking shit on the internet.” – make me think this group is full of people full of experience, but then “Just in Case” asks us to believe their young kids trying to make it happen. “We’ll never sleep. We’re too young, time to wind it up.”
The City Lights have succeeded in putting out an album full of great individual songs that doesn’t feel especially cohesive. Fortunately, in the world of playlists and mp3 players that makes much less of a difference.
