Album Review: Man Overboard - 'Heart Attack' | theMusic.com.au | Australian music news, gig guide, music reviews

With a sound heavily influenced by pop punk heavyweights such as Blink-182 or New Found Glory, emotionally charged lyrics that will resonate with anyone who's ever been an angsty teenager, and the 'Defend Pop Punk' motto that fans around the entire world 'unite' under, frankly it's hard not to see why Man Overboard have hit it so big in the pop punk scene in recent years. With the enormous success of debut album 'Real Talk' and the self-titled follow up, fans have come to expect certain qualities in their music, and means that the bar has already been set fairly high for the bands latest release, 'Heart Attack.'

There's no immediate change of pace in the album, with the first tracks, 'Secret Pain' and 'Boy Without Batteries' being fairly standard Man Overboard tunes, with the same sense of pop punk urgency and energy we've come to expect from them. The sound of the album shifts a bit when we hit 'Where I Left You.' Easily one of the standout tracks on the album, the melodies in this song are possibly the catchiest the band has ever written, and once again use the advantages given to them by having two vocalists very well, with some strong call and response phrasing, and some fantastic harmonies.

We see the band shifting more towards a pop rock sound on 'Heart Attack,' with songs like 'How To Hide Your Feelings' and 'Open Season' showcasing a much more pop-driven sound from the band. However, that doesn't mean they're leaving the punk side of their sound behind, with some fairly dark tracks on the album, such as 'Swan Dive,' or 'Hoodie Song.'

The album is a bit hit and miss though. There are tracks like 'White Lies,' with it's uplifting chorus melody, or 'Heart Attack', with a changing multimeter that keeps you on your toes a bit. But, there are also tracks like 'S.A.D,' 'Suppy,' and 'Damage Control', which just seem to be going through the motions and not providing anything special to the album, and you have to wonder why they made the final product when frankly, there is enough good material here to be released without the bad and still qualify as a full-length record.

'Heart Attack' sees Man Overboard stretch their sound a bit in both directions. At times a bit more pop than we're used to from them, others more punk, and others we get exactly what we're used to hearing. There's some very solid work done here, but there's also some quite average and uninspiring tracks in the mix. All in all, while the release is worth listening to, you can't help but feel like the band is capable of doing much better.

1.Secret Pain

2.Boy Without Batteries