Straight Up Random

CD Review: New Again by Taking Back Sunday

The Band: Taking Back Sunday

The Album: New Again

Stand Out Tracks: “Swing,” “Carpathia,” and “Everything Must Go”

The Review: Taking Back Sunday know how to reinvent their sound for each record. Where You Want To Be doesn’t sound like their critically acclaimed debut Tell All Your Friends, and Louder Now doesn’t sound like WYWTB or TAYF. New Again is the perfect title for what Taking Back Sunday’s latest sound is…new, yet again. With a new guitarist, Matt Fazzi, who replaced former member Fred Mascherino, they managed to pick up a new style, and seemingly transform their sound.

Some of the songs on New Again are more bass driven and the guitar is heavier than it ever has been on any previous record. The title track which opens the album introduces listeners to this new style Taking Back Sunday has adopted. The vocals of singer Adam Lazzara have definitely gotten a lot harsher since the old days and one disappointing factor about the record is that the band’s signature dual vocals are kept to a minimum. New Again isn’t as polished as their major label debut Louder Now, but instead embraces a rougher edge that is especially evident on songs like “Lonely, Lonely,” Catholic Knees,” and “Carpathia.”

The lyrics on the album reflect personal experiences the band has gone through including a song (“Capital M-E”) that indirectly references their previous guitarist/vocalist Fred Marscherino. “Where My Mouth Is,” is like Louder Now’s “My Blue Heaven,” but the most compelling song on the record is the emotionally charged “Everything Must Go” which serves as the closer to the album.

Taking Back Sunday have embraced the changes they have gone through to make a record that shows fans that they can still rock four albums later. No matter how many times Taking Back Sunday become “new again,” they’ll always retain the elements that make Taking Back Sunday what they are.

The Rating: 3.5 out of 5