Mayday Parade seems to have hit the right notes on their self titled third studio release. They made a huge name for themselves with their debut album, A Lesson in Romantics, but lost a lot of that momentum with their sophomore album, Anywhere But Here. While Anywhere was filled with co-writing, the new album is written solely by band members, surely a step in the right direction for the Tallahassee quintet. So, they've picked up the momentum from Romantics, and it seems like they'll only gain more from here.
The first track, ?OH Well, Oh Well? is without a doubt a brilliant opener.
Basically, it does everything an opener should do: it gets fans excited and it leaves you wanting more, more, and more. The second track, ?No Heroes Allowed? is another stand out track to me. The band integrated strings into it, which I think give the song more depth and personality. It's something new that not a lot of punk-pop bands play around with. The best thing about this album is the fact that vocalist Derek Sanders and drummer Jake Bundrick share singing duties, both switching off for certain parts in the songs. Mayday Parade have always been a band to execute dual-vocals on their songs quite well. While the switching off of vocals was absent from Anywhere But Here, it's back in full force on this album.