Every Avenue - Ah!

Every Avenue- Ah!
Record Label: Fearless Records
Release Date: August 14, 2007

So far in 2007 there have been many band break ups, with notable front runners in the pop punk genre including The Early November and Spitalfield going down. It has also been the up rise of the new batch of pop punk bands such as The Dangerous Summer, All Time Low, Four Year Strong and many more. Sometime in June, Fearless Records announced one of those young gun pop punk bands, Every Avenue.

Forming in 2003, Every Avenue have been gaining more and more fans with their “happy” pop punk. Even drummer Michael Govaere says, “We try to stay fun and energetic. We don’t scream or do cliché hardcore breakdowns like so many other bands.” With that statement, Every Avenue offers you Ah!

Before Every Avenue signed to Fearless, they announced they were recording their album with Broken English Record’s producer John Naclerio. With them picking Naclerio, by instinct I knew this was going to be a great release. Ah! opens with “One More Song,” an upbeat, captivating song. While this EP is claimed “fun and energetic” it still brings back depressing memories for Strauchman. The single “Where Were You” is a story about a girl David dated, but nothing happened. Though it seems sad, Dave then hints about how the girl came “Back to where we left off,” showing how Every Avenue turns positive with a small negative. Every Avenue even mixes some synth in “Nothing” that resembles Take This To Your Grave-era Fall Out Boy. Every Avenue also dishes out tracks The Ataris would have made back in the So Long, Astoria days. My favorite track off Ah!, “Picking Up the Pieces,” is all about exploding guitars, standout vocals, and overall fun; this song is made to be stuck in your head.

We could strike this fire down / But leave the sparks between us / And when the flames came pouring out / You didn’t find us / We were standing all around picking up the pieces

“Think of You Later (Empty Room)” illustrates a song found in the next National Lampoon movie when someone fantasies about a girl. “Think of you later in my empty room.” Anyone can somehow relate to that line. Closing Ah! is “Getting Out.” Again bringing memories of Fall Out Boy, Every Avenue continues to push with the upbeat pop punk.

There isn’t much negative I can say about this EP, except the similarities in songs. While the EP doesn’t have a dull moment, there’s no song where Every Avenue decides to slow the tempo down. But, Every Avenue states a strong point about being a fun, energetic pop punk band. If Ah! was a full length instead of an EP, this would defiantly top many pop punk bands releases. Not only is this my favorite EP this year, it’s one of the catchiest albums I have ever heard – even as catchy as The Starting Line’s Say It Like You Mean It.

Score: 88%