The American Scene – By Way of Introduction

  • Bobby Gorman posted
  • Reviews

The American Scene

By Way of Introduction - Pure Noise Records

The American Scene are going for the nostalgic root on By Way Of Introduction – both sonically and lyrically.

Lyrically, they’re attempting to build on the nostalgic element through the nine stories that make up By Way of Introduction. The songs detail the growth of our narrator, moving forward into the future after a heartbreak situation. They juxtapose the past and the present, remembering old times while being determined to move forward and no longer be pigeon holed by their old mistakes.

But their real nostalgic kick comes from their musical structure that surrounds those lyrics as The American Scene take you back to the turn of the century and co-op the pop-punk/pop-rock style of The Starting Line to a T.

Now, when I first got into the whole punk rock scene, The Starting Line were one of the bigger names around but I never knew why. A few songs stood out, but as a whole they were bland and forgettable. By building off that legacy, The American Scene are setting themselves up to be bland and forgettable in my mind as well.

They’re taking a page out of The Dangerous Summer’s book in that way too. In the way that If You Could Only Keep Me Alive soon fell into the furthest realms of my memories, By Way Of Introductiondoes that the moment after the nine song album comes to an end.

There are moments that stick out – the passionate chorus in the humorously named Marty McFly, Nostadamus and I or the closing drum beat in Another World Beater for example; but when they go for the high pitched, ultra emotional vocal delivery that sees Matthew Vincent replicate Kenny Vasoli’s croon, I just mentally tune them out. The vocals can work at times, A Million Minutes In the Making has some strong harmonies; but only when they keep them in control. Once then begin going all falsetto, they simply become a hindrance.

As I said, I never really understood the appeal of The Starting Line back in the day. The American Scene, however, must have loved the Philadelphia four piece and are bring that sound into the new decade. It’s not for me, but fans of The Starting Line or Dangerous Summer may have a different outlook.