Thirtyseven

This is What I Want

One of my favorite things about music is how well it can capture the sounds of popular culture. When you listen to a song with extreme falsettos, screeching guitar solos and lyrics about less than Christ-like women, you typically associate it with the mid-to-late ’80s. If you listen to a song with primarily hardcore vocals, breakdowns and an equally girly falsetto chorus, you get the late-’00s metalcore. Thirtyseven’s debut also carries a distinct sound that reminds me of a certain period and genre of music: mid-’00s pop-punk. They don’t add to the sound of bands like early Run Kid Run, Last Tuesday or even A Day to Remember, but instead simply bring it back for an encore.

With that said, This Is What I Want is far from a unique album. Most of the songs sound like they have been written a few times before (specifically, about eight years before). To see what I mean, check out first few lyrics on “Time Brings Change” and compare them to the opening vocals on Run Kid Run’s debut song “We’ve Only Just Begun.”

That isn’t to say that the album lacks a few distinct tracks. “Called Out” starts with a calm intro before kicking into an incredibly catchy, atypical pop punk song. It’s placed in the middle of the album, but feels like a closing track. The lyrics on the track focus on being called out and looked down upon because of your faith. It’s relatable and fits incredibly well with the Christian punk culture.

Instead of placing the slightly slower “Called Out” at the end, the album concludes with the heaviest track, “Moving On.” The mix of hardcore and pop-punk on this track will work well for fans of A Day to Remember.

This is What I Want probably won’t be your favorite pop punk album, but it’s a solid debut. If nothing else, listen to the album so that you can see them live and sing along.