‘Blaze’ is Lagwagon‘s first new studio album for five years; so to say this is quite an anticipated release for fans of the band would be an understatement to say the least. This has been out for around a month now, so apologies for the lateness of the review. However, has any one else noticed the lack of media coverage for this title? It’s almost as if ‘Blaze’ has slipped into the shops unnoticed. For a band with a reputation like Lagwagon‘s this would appear a strange situation. But hey, when has the mainstream music press looked beyond the latest pop punk band of the day!
As mentioned, it’s been five years since Lagwagon last blessed us with a new album. In that time Joey has been experimenting with Bad Astronaut, and the band themselves admitted they needed some time away. ‘Blaze’, thankfully, sees the band picking up pretty much where they left off. There are hints of BA in there, which is only natural, but, in the main, the album draws influence from its predecessors.
‘Blaze’ begins with a slow brooding intro to ‘Burn’ before the trademark Lagwagon sound kicks in, complete with Joey Cape‘s vocals, which have to be amongst the most recognisable in punk rock today. It’s a great up-tempo start to the album, and features a very fine guitar solo. There always seems to be a point on a Lagwagon album where the band manage to reach a higher musical level. In this case the superbly ironic ‘Falling Apart’ marks that point, and the band maintain that level right up to the infectious and poppy ‘Dinner and a Movie’. ‘Dividers‘ sees the band in their fastest territory whereas ‘Max Says’ is simply one of the album’s standout tracks.
However, where in the main part there are only good things to say about this album, there are a couple of tracks that are quite bland by comparison. This is a criticism that has been levelled at the band before; they never quite seem capable of keeping to their highest level of song writing throughout an entire album. Songs like ‘Dancing the collapse’ and ‘Billionaire’ fade easily to the background.
Despite a couple of small niggles, ‘Blaze’ provides exactly the listening experience you would want it to. It contains all the elements that made you fall in love with the Lagwagon in the first place. It has the band’s supreme pop sensibilities, their ability to beef tracks up at times, and most importantly their ability to write infectious songs. ‘Blaze’ is the bands most mature work to date, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best. It is a comfortable album to listen to, rather than being something that will change your life. Ultimately ‘Blaze’ is another fine addition to a very strong back catalogue of albums.
Mark