Label: DTA Records
Press release: Avril Lavigne has announced that she’ll be releasing a brand new album entitled ‘Love Sux’ next month. Set to land February 25, it comes after the Canadian singer-songwriter previously teased that her seventh LP would be arriving “at the top” of 2022 on Travis Barker’s label DTA Records. The follow-up to 2019’s ‘Head Above Water’ – which will see her return to her pop-punk roots – sees features from Machine Gun Kelly, Blink-182‘s Mark Hoppus, and blackbear.
My thoughts: Avril returning to her pop-punk roots is a silly statement since she's never really been pop punk, she simply looked the part but there are definitely some pop punk bangers on this release but there's also some questionable songs including the first track on the album. F.U. was the first song written for this release and probably should've been the first one cut. The featured song with blackbear is a pretty good track but the feature itself is not great. My favourite tracks hit in the middle of the album headlined by Avalanche. It's possible some of the not so great tracks grow on me over time but this is a worthwhile spin.
Label: Hidden Note Records
Press release: Get ready for sweet, sweet vindication: the Dashboard Confessional — a.k.a. Chris Carrabba — is back with plans to release a ninth studio album entitled All the Truth That I Can Tell. Anticipated February 25, 2022, via Hidden Note/AWAL, the album follows marks the first new Dashboard material in the four years since 2018's Crooked Shadows. "Honesty was at the heart of the writing process, at the heart of the recording process and at the heart of this collection of songs," Carrabba said in a statement. "I had the rare opportunity to be unflinchingly honest. But I think I would have thought in the early days that that would be commonplace. Now, I realize it's some kind of cycle within your life and there's great personal reward in accepting that."
My thoughts: Dashboard hasn't really reinvented their wheel in over a decade. Carrabba and hired guns speak to me more when they stay in the midtempo lane and thankfully there's a few of those here, The Better Of Me, being the albums highlight. Unfortunately though I found myself drifting away as the acoustic instrumentation made me think it was simply background noise and I felt like I missed tracks that couldn't keep my main focus.
Label: Wax Bodega
Press release: Knuckle Puck have announced a new EP, set for release next month. Titled Disposable Life, the five-track record is due out on February 4 via Wax Bodega. “It feels like we’re kind of rebooting Knuckle Puck,” says explains vocalist Joe Taylor. “Making this music has been the most fun we’ve had in a really long time. It was fresh and exciting again. It was like, ‘Oh man, this feels like it did in 2013.’ We captured some of that magic.”
My thoughts: I did not get the "this is 2013 Knuckle Puck" mentioned above while listening to this EP but I'm fine with it. This is simply a fun continued evolution of Knuckle Puck and I'm all here for it. You also feel like they're having more fun here, guessing not needing input from the label makes an album recording feel more carefree. The blink cover was a fun touch to close out the album as well.
