ALBUM REVIEW: A LOSS FOR WORDS “NO SANCTUARY”
Since 2005 A Loss For Words have released three EPs, their first full length ‘The Kids Can’t Lose’, an album of covers called ‘Motown Classics’, toured with Four Year Strong, The Wonder Years, Veara, Set Your Goals and Polar Bear Club, toured extensively in the United States as well as in Canada, Japan, Russia, western Europe and the UK, and then in February of 2011 they got signed with Velocity/Rise records. One of the many pop punk bands coming out of Boston, they sure prove to be unstoppable. Now it’s time for their second full length album, being released on October 25 via Velocity/Rise records here is ‘No Sanctuary’.
‘Honeymoon Eyes’ starts out the album being one of the grittier tracks on the record and we’re introduced to the band’s thrusting, full throttle manner, demonstrating their heavier side early on.
While ‘Pray For Rain’ has a melody driven indie/pop punk sound and ‘Pirouette’ has staggeringly good use of mid tempo intro and verse structures, they both have all the ‘woh oh ohs’ of the typical pop punk song.
Speaking of a typical pop punk song, ‘Raining Excuses’ is about a guy wanting a girl who is with the “wrong” guy. “I see more than just a pretty face, baby/ He’s not the one for you” basically sums up the entire song.
‘The Hammers Fall’ is about realization that your life is the same day over and over again, with the chorus going “Singing the same old songs that I have always sung. About life and loss and the places I belong.” While being emotional, this song sure isn’t slow.
One of the better songs on the record, ‘The Lost Cause I Used To Be’ is about two people who are together by fault singing “I’m a wreck and she’s a mess” and then going into the amazingly catchy chorus “We are bitter broken people, but at least we keep each other company.”
The title track ‘No Sanctuary’ is a song heavily influenced with hardcore. While some would argue that if they stuck to more of the heavier sounding material they would stand out more I disagree. They do the sugar poppy songs very well.
‘JMR’ is quite catchy and I have a feeling that at live shows it will be a fan favorite and get the entire audiences participation. The song is about the frustration you have after a relationship ends with them singing “burn, burn all those night that we shared.”
It seems that every rock album has to have the obligatory slow/ emotional song of the album ‘Jetsetter’ is that one, while it’s not terrible, it’s quite lifeless.
Another emotional song is ‘Finite’, it’s about living in the moment with lyrics such as “won’t let tonight pass me by” and “time is so precious for us all” we can all appreciate the truth behind the meaningful lyrics.
‘Wrightsville Beach’ is a song about how a good relationship has lost its touch and gone awry. With amazing use of metaphors in the lyrics “We were once a canvas, so bright and full of color” and “You we're the sand beneath my feet, eroded by the tide” it’s hard not to get swept away by this last song on the album.
A Loss For Words have joined the ranks of the pop-punk scene and it’s impressive that they're doing so well to “keep up with the Jones. “ While it sure doesn’t have a lack of catchy vocals and big sounding, loud guitars, ‘No Sanctuary' doesn't really come across as groundbreaking. We shall soon see if A Loss For Words is on the edge of doing something great.
Best Tracks: The Lost Cause I Used To Be, Raining Excuses, Wrightsville Beach,
Rating: 7/10