Worth Taking - Hangman

I've always felt that being labelled Pop Punk is not that beneficial, unless of course you are an insider or big fan. It's not that it's bad, it certainly isn't, it's just that bands don't seem to be able to break out of it readily. There are exceptions of course, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World and Fall Out Boy to name three, but the term labels bands as something they are not.

Fans know that it's more Pop than Punk, but outsiders see Punk and run. Jimmy Eat World are probably the best of the bands to break away from the tag and Worth Taking remind me a lot of them.
I suppose the one problem I have with Pop Punk is that it all seems to sound the same.

Well Worth Taking prove that wrong, Hangman is an album that has far more in common with classic Power Pop than anything else.



There's a real maturity in the songs, the riffs fit in beautifully with the whole song, they don't seem as an add on to display technical ability. That said, the riffs are also killer. Songs like Counting On You and Stay In Love stand up with many Power Pop songs that you'd care to mention. The band can break out though on the likes of  Different Now and Make This Right.

Let Me Try Again sounds like a heavy Downtown Fiction, Sinking In is a real thrash.  This One's For You is a real melodic joy with a big chorus. The opener, Honestly is wonderfully slow with a top notch riff.





Hangman oozes great Power Pop licks, I'm not sure that it will appeal to all of their Pop Punk fans, but it should open up a whole new legion of guitar pop lovers.

What's even more great is that the album is currently reduced on the band's Bandcamp site from $10 to $3.49. A ridiculously cheap price for an album this good and one that should have the moths flying out of your wallets.

You can buy the album here.