New Years Day is one of the up and coming pop-punk acts that will grace this summer’s Vans Warped Tour stages. Led by the spunky, strong female vocals of the one-named Ash, the band’s debut combines a rough punk edge with pure pop smarts, like a cross between The Muffs and Letters to Cleo. Some varied textures are present in the form of saxophones on “My Sweet Un-Valentine” and heavy metal guitar riffing on “Saying Goodbye,” but overall the sound doesn’t veer far from the formulaic. The subject matter is mostly of the teen-friendly variety, surface analyses of doomed crushes, youthful longing, and the like, but the band’s bouncy, energetic delivery makes up for the occasional lyrical clumsiness (comparing your failed relationship to heart disease, as on the woefully titled “Ready Aim Misfire,” is ill-advised at best and distasteful at worse). Still, it’s the vibrant youthfulness of New Years Day that makes its music fun, and that forgives any minor missteps.
~ Frank Valish
Buy Album from CD Universe
