I never heard Shades Apart very well, I have never been into this band a lot, I only heard their cover of “Tainted Love” on some compilation on Hopeless Records and their song was one of the best of that album…this new CD does not bring anything new to the rock scene in general, but it is damned catchy: Shades Apart plays very good poppunk with a rock edge , like a mix between The Descendents and Foo Fighters, with both fast and slow songs. The fourteen track “Sonic Boom” is their second album on a major label, after the 1999 “Eyewitness”, and after going separated ways from the indie record label Revelation. The thing that characterizes this album is that it has songs that are all on the same level , no better no worse, there is not a potential hit single ( even if the band chose “Beat By Beat”); other songs that attracted my attention are “Gravity” “Rebel Teenager From Mars” and “Superzero”, but do not trust this too much, becasue , as I said, all the songs are potential singles and it is not easy to say which is the best track of this CD. If you are looking for some fresh pop insipred music for your summer, Shades Apart may be your soundtrack.