Album Review: These Hearts - 'Yours To Take'

27 July 2013 | 5:49 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

A good but generic sounding pop punk album

North Dakota's These Hearts return with second studio album, 'Yours To Take.' Previous release 'Forever Came Yesterday' was met with some scrutiny and proved a generic and halfhearted album. With that release a mere two years ago it makes 'Yours To Take' a breath of fresh air as it successfully combines pop-punk and hardcore elements this time around. The use of pop punk mixed with hardcore breakdowns isn't exactly a hard thing to find these days, but These Hearts manage to pull themselves up the ladder with this one.

Opener 'This is Love,' which features Bert Poncet from the French band Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, holds promise for the album as you are greeted with pleasant and upbeat pop punk and breakdowns, which fit well into the song, rather than being sporadically placed. This track shows a vast improvement in the vocal techniques they have used previously.

'The Inconvenience' showcases These Hearts' ability to delve into hardcore sounds and then brings it up with a catchy chorus. With the lines, "So much for happy ever after" it does ring a little cheesy but nothing cringe worthy, it still makes you bob your head and join in.

'Psycho' and 'Birds of a Feather strongly showcase the band's pop punk abilities. These songs are similar to the sounds of All Time Low in tone, while they could also be compared to that of A Day To Remember with their mixture of hardcore.

However, These Hearts have fallen into the trap of the standard pop-punk/hardcore template. As the album progresses it tends to blend into one another and starts to sound rather the same with each song. Though track 'Undecided Story' is a stand out as it includes some slower, acoustic sounds and addresses serious issues throughout its lyrics about relationships and abuse. 'Never Mind Me' is a surprising way to end the album compared to the other tracks. 

'Yours To Take' is nothing that stands out, as it is easy to get lost between the hundreds of pop-punk/hardcore bands that all tend to have similar sounds and themes. The album however is not a bad one and has some solid pop punk and hardcore sounds that work well. They have definitely improved, just still generic.

The album doesn't bring anything new to the world of pop punk and hardcore. However, it is still a well constructed record and would be worth a listen if you like those kind of sounds. 

1. This Is Love (Feat. Bert Poncet) 

2. The Inconvenience 

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3. Psycho 

4. Miserable 

5. Been Through Hell 

6. Last Man Alive 

7. Birds Of A Feather 

8. Undecided Story 

9. War (Feat. Mattie Montgomery) 

10. LOTR 

11. Never Mind Me