As the title of their new album says, after seven years and five
albums, pop-punk rockers Relient K are back with their fifth record to
date. Knowing that all of their three previous albums (”Anatomy Of The
Tongue In Cheek”, “Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right…But Three Do” and
“Mmhmm”) went gold, and the first two’s also have been remastered as
“Gold Edition”, it’s hard not to predict that this record will be huge,
too.



Five Score And Seven Years Ago marks Relient K’s first full-length
album, and the first featuring bassist John Warne and guitarist Jon
Schneck (formerly of Christian rock band Ace Troubleshooter, a Tooth
And Nail band) – although the two appeared on the band’s Apathetic EP,
released in late 2005. With original guitarist Matt Hoopes and drummer
Dave Douglas completing the lineup, Relient K is now a quintet with
each of the members contributing vocals. The backing harmonies,
stunning throughout, amp up the infectious “Must Have Done Something
Right” and serve as an ironic counterpoint in “Deathbed.”  But the
biggest change is in the control booth.



The new album is made of 14 songs that sound so tight and compact as a
whole that it’s almost scary. Impressive, actually. The tunes sound so
well all together and you can really say that Relient K had a good time
and good ideas / inspirations while making this record.



Produced by Howard Benson (The All American Rejects, My Chemical
Romance, Less Than Jake), “Five Score And Seven Years Ago” is a never
ending trip in the life of Matthew Thiessen: the main songwriter and
lead singer of the band describes stories about his personal life and
experiences, and if you think the band has matured, well, it’s hard to
say it.



The album has still got some high sense of humour, as such songs as the opening track

“Plead the Fifth”, written from the viewpoint of an 19th century man with an outlandish

conspiracy theory about Lincoln’s death and it features lead
vocalist/guitarist/pianist Matt Thiessen using his mouth to simulate
each instrument of a drum kit, or the 10 second song “Crayons Can Melt
On Us For All I Care”, which is really funny. But the record also
features high and deep themes, as the closer track “Deathbad”, which
more than a song, is a poem, which includes Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman on
guest vocals and has a somber setting as its title implies, the
masterfully woven tale of a man’s life and death brims with witty
observations and aural ironies.



In general, the album picks up where “Mmhmm” left, with incredibly
catchy and powerful pop punk songs as “Come Out And Say It”,
“Devastation And Reform” (the guitar riffs at the beginning of this
song is incredbile and Hoopes is a tralented guitar player) and “Bite
My Tongue”, where Relient K not only plays catchy guitar riffs, but
also have melodies that stick in your ears for days. The things slow
down sometimes, as Thiessen and friends leave their heavy guitars for
piano driven harmonies, as on “Forgiven” and “Give”, with piano
elements and acoustic guitar parts.



In the end, “Five Score And Seven Years Ago” is one of the very few
albums of today’s music that can still give something new to the fans:
fresh harmonies, catchy hooks and a lot of ironic (and sometimes
serious) lines, and it’s just a shame that you will not hear it on most
popular radios or televisions.

 

Tracklist

1. Plead The Fifth

2. Come Right Out And Say It

3. I Need You

4. The Best Thing

5. Forgiven

6. Must Have Done Something Right

7. Give

8. Devastation And Reform

9. I’m Taking You With Me

10. Faking My Own Suicide

11. Crayons Can Melt On Us For All I Care

12. Bite My Tongue

13. Up And Up

14. Deathbed



Buy “Five Score And Seven Years Ago” here.
Buy the special limited edition with DVD here.