Boundaries are always an ever-changing thing. The boundary between pop-punk, punk and hardcore used to be such a simple affair, something outlined with a big, black Sharpie. Yet, over the last decade or so, with the inception of bands like A Day to Remember, Four Year Strong and even The Story So Far, this once clear boundary has turned into a slightly confusing grey-ish line. This line doesn’t so much define where a genre starts and finishes, but more marks where the difference used to be, and is completely ignored within the veritable Venn Diagram that these genres seem to have turned into.
There’s nothing especially new being done on Four Minute Mile’s ‘Bridges/Streetlights’. Pop-punk rarely sees a band that actually “break the mould” so to speak, and the hardcore/punk moments are fairly simplistic emulations of the basic elements of the genres.
So while ‘Bridges/Streelights’ is a fairly unremarkable EP in and of itself, simultaneously, you have to try really hard not to like it. One would never classify ‘Bridges/Streelights’ as a guilty pleasure, but something of that air lingers persistently. Perhaps it’s the sound of my Lamb of God t-shirt screaming at me from the drawer, maybe it’s the over-American-ness (which is something this album has by the bucket-loud) that makes it a slightly jarring listen. Whatever it is, the feeling is drowned out by the infectious choruses and brilliant hooks that Four Minute Mile have written.
Opening track ‘Sunburnt’ is a fast-paced, bounce-along-with-your-top-off-and-red-beer-cup-in-your-hand tune. ‘Camelia’ has a slightly more slowed-down feel, but only when you consider that, relative to the speed of light, the speed of sound is still pretty fast. This song is also a brilliant example of this band writing gang-vocal moments that you want to listen to over and over again just so you can learn the words and shout along as well. ‘Grey’ follows much the same trend, and judging from the lyrics in this track especially, this band certainly have something to be a bit miffed about. Final track ‘Heisenburg’ seems to come a little too early, although by now my Dimmu Borgir t-shirt has packed it’s bag, donned it’s corpsepaint and gone to live in a puddle where it can feel miserable on it’s own. Despite being one of the most emotional songs on the EP, this song does show that this band clearly find it hard to write a sad song.
ANDY LEDDINGTON