Ryan’s Hope – Apocalypse In Increments

It’s no secret that I love PunkNews, they’re easily one of the best punk sites on the internet. Scott, Aubin and Brian are known around the punk and are treated with upmost respect, so when I heard that they were starting their own record label I was stoked. I knew they’d find soon-to-be classic punk bands and help get their CDs out to the world. Sadly, when I heard their first release, I was disappointed.Somersetwas nothing spectacular and I really had thought the trio could have picked a better band for their first release. But don’t worry, PunkNews Records are back with their sophomore record, and this time they’ve hit the jackpot – because quiet frankly, Ryan’s Hope is that soon-to-be classic punk band I knew they’d be able to find.

Apocalypse In Increments is a breath of fresh air in an overly saturated scene, oddly enough, by taking an old classic formula and re-inventing it. By that I mean that Ryan’s Hope haven’t gone the way of girl pants and screamo, but have instead gone back to the good, old fashioned, mid-90’s pop-punk formula. High energy, highly melodic, and highly enjoyable, the Chicago trio have created an album that any fan ofPulley or more accurately, Millencolin (at times Terry Morrow spits a perfect replica of Nikola Sarcevic’s classic vocal patterns, particularly on My Motivation, Your Demise). Morrorw has great vocal range, and is appropriately supported by both Nick McLenighan and Greg Alltop with well timed “ohhs” and “ahhs” and even the occasional gang vocals.

The CD is of average length, clocking in at just around thirty-three minutes; but they use every one of those thirty-three minutes to their advance. Great solos, tons of bridges, and bouncy, fist-pumping anthems.Even with all that intensity, they aren’t afraid to strip it down to the bare necessity on the middle track My Decision which is the perfect turning point of the album as Morrorw croons “I finally made a decision, to make it on my own” and has the perfect lead into the much faster and heavier When Life Steals Life (we need more lead-ins like that).

While Apocalypse isn’t new in any sense of the word, it is refreshing and incredibly entertaining; and it’s an album I can see myself listening to constantly. So despite having a rocky start, PunkNews Recordshave picked it up and successfully reached my high expectations for the bands on their roster. Let’s just hope they find more bands like Ryan’s Hope to sign.