When Taking Back Sunday stormed back onto the scene with their ‘Tidal Wave’ title track, it hinted at an exciting reawakening. For the first time in their history they even acquired, although reservedly, notions of “punx”. Its short and sharp ferocity equally suited to Against Me!’s new album, notably removed from the inconsistent melodic fodder presented on their most recent records.
Come the full-length – Taking Back Sunday’s seventh – it’s something of an anomaly. With the record undoubtedly a departure for the band, it is in fact the slower material that takes centre stage on ‘Tidal Wave’. The force of the title-track is confined to it, as the majority of the remaining record presents the refined polish and fetching melodies Taking Back Sunday are experts at.
They have however used the opportunity for experimentation. ‘Homecoming’, among its theatrics, has acoustic punk undertones, shared by ‘You Can’t Look Back’. ‘I Felt It Too’ displays an ethereal feel, above and beyond its closest contemporaries ‘Call Me In The Morning’ or ‘Nothing At All’ from their two prior releases. This unusual nature is mirrored in album closer ‘I’ll Find A Way To Make It What You Want’, initially another of the record’s downbeat tracks before moving into full power ballad territory.
It’s here where Taking Back Sunday bend their own rules. Rather than a complete reinvention, ‘Tidal Wave’ sees them experiment with the outer boundaries of their style. ‘Holy Water’, although not vastly different from what has come before, replaces the sheen with a more unrefined production value, and benefits vastly from it. Yet throughout the album, just as Taking Back Sunday truly deliver something substantially unique, they rein themselves right back in.
What they revert to is far better than that presented by a host of peers, but fails to excite quite as much as the opening one-two of ‘Death Wolf’ and the album’s title track. ‘Tidal Wave’ sees Taking Back Sunday carefully pushing at the edges of their self-imposed confines, rather than confidently breaking out of the mould.
BEN TIPPLE