This Time Next Year Lives Up to the Hype

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Take that phrase, and apply it to the plethora of pop punk the music scene has produced over the last couple years. The genre has become oversaturated with a new crop of New Found Glory clones, and as each Tuesday goes by, it becomes harder and harder for the cream to rise to the top of the metaphorical overflowing barrel.  With that in mind, turn your attention to Drop Out of Life, the fantastic new effort by Walnut Creek, California's purveyors of pop-punk perfection This Time Next Year.

From the opening chords of the title track, you know exactly what you're getting into. The band wastes no time with artsy intro tracks or 30 second patches of superfluous distortion; they just beat you over the head with hooks until your ears are ringing. Cuts like the fantastic "Last Call" bring to mind the golden era of Drive-Thru Records pop punk bands like Fenix Tx, The Starting Line's earlier work and of course, the Movielife, from whose debut album the band got their name. "Last Call" may in fact be the best song the band has written to date; they really nailed down the harmonic prowess they had hinted at on previous releases with that song.

The lyrical themes covered by frontman Brad Wiseman on Drop Out of Life are tried and true pop punk topics: missing home, loneliness, worthlessness, friendship and of course, the ladies. There is an earnestness that Wiseman conveys so well in a genre overwrought with phoned in sentiments of love and loss. It's a difficult feat to achieve, and the man deserves applause for his vocal performance here, highlighted nicely by the increasingly stellar production of New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert (seriously, each time this guy turns the knobs for a band, he gets better. Gilbert is quickly rising through the production ranks).

This Time Next Year seamlessly weaves the quirkiness of Bayside, the bombast of Set Your Goals, the musings of the Wonder Years and the hooks of Man Overboard into a fantastic, glossy-but-not-overpowerinlgy-so package that places them among those peers in the upper echelons of pop punk. On previous releases, the band has fallen just short of greatness, but it's safe to say (after turning out absolute bangers like "Get It, Got It, Good" and "This Is An Airport Train") this time around, they've hit the mark nicely.

Drop Out of Life raises the hell out of the bar for modern pop punk. TTNY deftly maneuver their way through 13 infectious gems that could just have easily been released in 2003 as in 2011, and that's a compliment. Do yourself a favor and cruise over to Hot Topic and pick this one up, out now on Equal Vision Records. You won't regret it.