The Max Levine Ensemble – Backlash, Baby!

The Max Levine Ensemble is back and they’re making quite an entrance with Backlash, Baby, their first full length in over 7 years. Backlash is a pop punk record, but diverse enough to never get stale. Lyrically the album covers all sorts of grounds, David Combs writes about how life changes, how we change as well and tries to make sense of it all. That includes politics, history or big issues, but also personal stories.

Title track Backlash, Baby is a solid opener and gets the album going within a few seconds. Also lyrically it’s a perfectly suited for a comeback record. There’s a Weezer vibe to Max Levine and it really surfaces in My Valerian, a song that sets a different tone taking the pace down a notch with a very catchy indie pop chorus. If there’s a single on Backlash that could get main stream, it has to be this song. Together with the next two songs it’s a really strong sequence. The vocal parts on Suns Early Rays are just awesome, and Born At The Wrong Time is a banger with massive sing a long potential.

Sicker is a song with a darker theme; there’s a few of them on Backlash, Baby: Shadow of Death could be one of those songs, though I’m not sure. The last line of this song says “No person who seeks to escape it should ever be treated with trust by the living, still the shadow of death keeps me moving”, what a genious lyric. Did I also mention that Shadow of Death is a ska tune on a pop punk record – how 90’s – and it just so happens to still be a really good song.

This brings us to American, my favourite off the album. I live in Europe, I’ve done so for all my life so I’m quite certainly not the best target audience for this song. Nonetheless the theme translates well over the ocean, maybe because I share – more or less – my age with David Combs. Next to the great lyrics, this song features a near perfect intro and exemplifies excellent songwriting. Going home is the two part ending to the album. Part 1 is the dreamy acoustic introduction and Part 2 feels like the actual song, an optimistic song about changes: “Things will get better, once we leave the winter far behind“.

If you’re not used to The Max Levine Ensemble I could see it taking a few listens to get used to Backlash, Baby. This isn’t your middle of the road pop punk record, it takes a bit more work but it’s a most enjoyable ride and some songs are true gems worthwhile discovering.