Surprise! Ocala’s heaviest pop-punk band A Day To Remember drop new record with zero fanfare. Not a surprise: it’s awesome.
And just like that, we have a new A Day To Remember record. And while it hasn't quite come out of the blue, given the release of tantalising single Feedback last May, that was nine months ago so you can imagine that even the most ardent followers waiting for album number eight may have cooled their heels by now.
So here it is, a physical-first release you can buy over the counter of a shop or have delivered through your letterbox, well before the album becomes available on streaming platforms on March 21. It’s an innovative way of doing things, on brand for a band who strive to keep things interesting.
It’s fun, too, as well as providing a reminder that even now, fans will adhere to whatever format they can get their favourite music on. But, while this is all well and good and headline-grabbing, it’s all for nothing if the record in question, A Day To Remember’s Big Ole Album Vol. 1, isn’t actually much cop. Good news, then: it’s excellent.
While the title is tongue in cheek – much like its 1980s film poster artwork – ADTR continue to take their work as seriously as heart surgery. That’s why they kick things off here with Make It Make Sense, hewn from heft and heart, in which Jeremy McKinnon appears to be asking why our insecurities cause us all to cut others down. It also heralds the band leaning into the pop-punk roots that made their name, which is further illustrated on the boiz and brewskis anthem All My Friends and the undeniable Die For Me, co-written by Oli Sykes.
Video not playing? View on YouTube
Fans of A Day To Remember will know the Florida quartet’s sound is also characterised by frequent excursions into the crushingly heavy. Thankfully, they haven’t scrimped on those impulses this time around. While Bad Blood’s colossal breakdown suggests they’ve pushed things even further, earning a chef’s kiss in the process, Silence takes things in a fascinating new feral direction (while Jeremy has name-checked Gojira and Coal Chamber as influences on this, we’d throw Nine Inch Nails and post-punk legends Killing Joke into the mix, too).
None of this is overplayed, though. A Day To Remember’s Big Ole Album Vol. 1 isn’t a full-bodied progression. Nor is it a play-it-safe regression. ADTR has always been an enterprise that could so easily topple over into caricature or catastrophe if any one element was minutely out of sync, such is their everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to creativity. That they’ve ramped up the key components once again while keeping the whole thing in check, all while utilising the services of a broad range of studio superheroes (from WRZD BLD to Will Putney), is worthy of huge praise. That the resulting record is another belter, even more so.
Jeremy recently told Kerrang! that there’s a Vol. 2 in the offing. Good news, especially when A Day To Remember are on this kind of roll.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Beartooth, Neck Deep, Underoath
Big Ole Album Vol. 1 is out on February 21 in physical formats via Fueled By Ramen / Parlophone, and receives a digital release on March 21.
ADTR headline Slam Dunk Festival on May 24 – 25, and play London’s O2 Academy Brixton on June 24 – 25. Get your Slam Dunk tickets now.
