Having formed in 2001 under the name ‘No Way Out’, the band have come a long way in their years and still they only have an average age of 20. The band actually headlined the Ernie Ball stage for the entirety of the US Warped Tour in the Summer of 2005, and later that year also headlined a tour sponsored by MySpace. With these great achievements as a resultant success of their first album ‘The Meaning In The Makeup’, it was clear that the band were already causing a massive stir. It was not until last month however that the band would head over these shores, supporting Madina Lake on their tour of the UK. Whilst here in promotion of their recently released sophomore effort ‘Hiding Inside The Horrible Weather’, My American Heart vowed that they would definitely be returning to the UK at a later date.
‘Hiding Inside The Horrible Weather’ kicks off in terrific style, evidencing a great deal of maturity from the band. It is clear that the My American Heart have come a long way in terms of musical ability in the last two years since releasing their début, and their song writing ability has here shown a vast improvement. The opening number here ‘Boys! Grab Your Guns’ is a fabulously catchy slab of Pop Punk which grabs your attention instantaneously and easily sustains it throughout the tracks duration. It has to be one of the best opening tracks I have heard in a long time as it compels you to listen on and find out if the band can carry on at such a high level of catchiness throughout the entirety of the album.
As the album progresses, the band do not disappoint and continue to prove their worth with a number of highly impressive tracks. ‘The Shake (Awful Feeling)’ is one of the first tracks that springs to mind when I think of this album. Picked as the first single to be released from the album, it is not hard to see why this was the case as it truly is a finely crafted, exceptionally catchy track that you can listen to over and over again without ever tiring of it. This one has a downright dynamite chorus and really does show the band at their very best. Although not a massive commercial success, it could easily have been so had it been given the exposure it so deserved.
In this album the band showcase not only the fact that they have a fine art for penning supremely catchy pop tracks, but also that they can do a good job when they slow things down a little. Tracks such as ‘Tired & Uninspired’, ‘All My Friends’, and ‘Dangerous’ show a softer side of the band; a side that was never evident when they released their début album. Although it is clear that they feel a little uncomfortable in these tracks as they are outside their comfort zone, on all three occasions here the band have done well. ‘All My Friends’ I feel is the best of the three, and is in fact the track they have chosen to close the album with. This finishes the album well, rounding it off nicely and winding it down as things are brought to a close.
If you heard the first album from the band and were not impressed with what you found there; then it may be worth checking this latest release out from them as in my opinion it is a hell of a lot better, and definitely evidences a great maturity on their behalf. If you’re looking for intense lyrical intelligence then granted you’re not going to find that here, but musically the band have got things spot on this time round, and it is no longer merely the vocals that impress. It has always been evident that the band have a truly gifted front man, however in this release the rest of the band also show their worth with a display of awesome guitar licks and frantic drum beats throughout.
Given the tragically clichéd name of the band, I fear that many will give this band a miss out of fear that they are merely another generic Emo band, however the truth of the matter is that they are far from being this; at no point in this album do the band even contemplate the thought of screaming. ‘Hiding Inside The Horrible Weather’ is a finely written, highly catchy Pop Punk album that I will no doubt be listening to for some time to come. Although it is not the best album ever to have come out of the genre, the bands singer Larry Soliman is an extremely talented vocalist with an almighty strong voice. I feel that My American Heart could potentially go very far producing the great music that they are at current, and given their young age this will without a doubt not be the last we hear from them.
Label: Bodog Music
Release Date: 8th October 2007
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
