Review: FM Static - Dear Diary

Title: Dear Diary
Artist: FM Static
Genre: Pop Punk

Rating:

Toronto-based two-piece side project of Thousand Foot Krutch frontman, Trevor McNevan and drummer Steve Augustine released a new album on April 7, 2009 through Tooth and Nail, who also released their first two albums. According to Trevor McNevan

It's a concept record, the entire album will be one story from beginning to end. It's based on a boy (and occasionally a girl) and their diary entries about what's going on in their lives. It deals with faith, doubt, love, death, and the honest questions that surround living and growing up in modern day culture. We're very pumped about this record and are excited to share it with you.

I finally was able to get hold of the tracks - and what I heard impressed me. The sound is similar to their sophomore, but a little bouncier, moving more to the lines of punk and away from their former emo tracks they have so been branded with (at least here in the Philippines). One of the best parts of the album is that instead of being a simple collection of pop punk tracks to listen to, "Dear Diary" is strictly a concept album - the lyrics and the music follows a story, which, compared to other concept albums, is quite easy to follow. Liner notes also contain extended "diary entries" that help fully develop the story.

Dear Diary

The album starts with their fast paced lead single "Boy Moves to a New Town With Optimistic Outlook" and the story continues with those petty high school problems of being left out and meeting a new girl. The bouncy sound becomes progressively slower and more melodic peaking in an unexpected tragedy which is an attempt to escape the risk of being called "cheap." The tragedy shakes the storyteller and the girl she has met, and leads to deep questions about life and God. The album abruptly ends with everything back to what it used to be, as the storyteller is now entering College on "The Shindig."

As a whole, the album is easy to listen to - not like other albums in the same Pop Punk genre, such as Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown." There is a vague trace of irony and defiance characteristic of the punk genre and the sounds have a pop sheen to it for mass appeal. Though the songs are quite fun and the slower ones dazzling, with a little spice of hip hop and even some choruses dancable, they never really caused that emotional effect - the music is just something you would listen to in the background. While the lyrics are unusually meaningful for a pop punk band (though not entirely surprising considering they are a Christian band) the music lacks the force and depth supposedly associated with these lyrics - such depth has been achieved in their former album. The music is too mild, too weak and while most would love the bouncy sounds of the album, I find their lack of power quite boring and uninteresting.

Nevertheless, "Dear Diary" still makes for a great album and will especially appeal to students like me, which can actually relate to the songs, while for those who have already finished high school, nothing's better than a trip down memory lane...