Nostalgia has gripped the wrist of time and slung every once-angsty teen back into the mid-noughties. There is an ongoing resurgence of beloved emo, alt-rock, post-Hardcore, and Pop-Punk acts flooding stages and fests again. Hopefully, the remaining slots are many because Story of the Year is another to add to the emo revival.

 

Story of the Year’s 2003 debut album housed the despairingly devoted anthemic hit ‘Until the Day I Die’, which has over 110M streams on Spotify. The record was the first of its kind to sell a million copies, which arguably carved a path for others to follow in their footsteps. 2005 saw their sophomore album In The Wake of Determination slathered in dominating authority and tumultuous aggression. Through the next two albums, Story of the Year never wavered in their tenacious songwriting but shortly after, they sunk into a hiatus and members bowed out to join other endeavors. 2017 saw the release of Wolves which lyrically didn’t differ, though the style of music saw a massive shift and introduced musical aspects found in pop and 80’s genres that were being used by their contemporaries.

 

Between 2017 and their sixth album Tear Me To Pieces (SharpTone Records) the band live-streamed their first three albums during the COVID-19 lockdown and played on a few fest lineups after social distancing was lifted. In January 2022, they announced they would be a part of the When We Were Young fest taking place later that year. In August 2022, Story of the Year released the first single ‘Real Life’ from the new album, along with the news they would be housed under SharpTone, and announced a tour alongside Hawthorne Heights and Escape the Fate.

 

 

The band may have swerved into a different style with Wolves, but the venture took a backseat with the release of Tear Me To Pieces, as they revisited the sound that made them a favorite. The album wastes no time and dives into the title track with quick-paced urgency and pleading: “Tear me to pieces, And swallow me, Cause I can’t kill all the anxiety. Tear me to pieces, I’m on my knees, I’m suffocating and I can’t break free”.

 

The album still contains the elements that makes up Story of the Year; desperation, heartbreak, pain, loss, anger, frustration, and motivation. However, it continues to demonstrate the band’s growth as they strike a balance between youthful angst and the collected adult.

 

The galloping drums are replaced by accented power chops, as thick bass lines compliment the heft of power chords and riffs. They continued to experiment with different components like speaker-shaking 808 bass as heard in ‘Dead and Gone’ which bleeds into the following track ‘War’ and also sinks in subdued synth elements.

 

‘2005’ is a saudade serenade that nods back to the titular year for the band and listeners alike. With sentimental pop-punk style and upbeat vocals, it’s rife with callbacks that could easily immerse one within memories, but also reminds one to make the most of the present, so that they, too, can become wonderful thoughts in the future.

 

The last few tracks of the album bounce between acoustic pleas and admittance of mistakes, foolhardy choices drenched in upbeat rhythm, and punchy heeds and warnings. Tear Me To Pieces gathers the raw ingredients from Story of the Year’s conception and compounded them into a refined gem.

 

Between the relatability and the recollection of youth, this is their best album to date.

 

Buy the album here:

http://www.storyoftheyear.net/

 

8 / 10

JESSIE FRARY