‘Heroes, Hoods and Headphones’ is the début album from one:day:life, a pop punk band from the east coast of England. One look at the cover of this release and the genre of this band can quickly be deciphered, to look at the band is extremely reminiscent of Blink 182, to listen to however this band is not. Fans of the genre of pop punk will have heard the sound that one:day:life produces many a time before, it’s not original but the music is in fact quite enjoyable.
The band looks American, sounds American, and whilst listening to this album you tend to forget that all three members of one:day:life are in fact English. There is no denying however that this band is producing terrifically catchy pop punk music, and although it’s not the most original sound in the world it’s definitely still worth a whirl I feel. There’s not much variety here, but what the band does is done well and all twelve of the tracks present on this album will surely please fans of the pop punk genre. It’s not essential listening, but I’m sure that most fans of the genre will certainly find this album to be of great interest and derive significant listening pleasure from this ‘Heroes, Hoods and Headphones’ album.
The album begins with ‘Caught In The Crossfire’, an energetic offering of pop punk which instantly grabs your attention with its catchy chorus and frantic pace. Throughout the rest of the album however it would be hard to tell any major difference between any of the twelve tracks here. The music is interesting but all too similar, the album is therefore enjoyable to listen to but ultimately extremely unmemorable. It’s done well, the guitars produce some interesting sounds, the vocals are tuneful, the drum beats powerful; all in all though the sound that is produced here is really quite unspectacular.
Vocally I would say that if you think along the lines of bands such as The Starting Line, Home Grown and other Drive Thru Records artists of this ilk then you’ll get a good idea of what kind of sound it is that one:day:life produces. This sound would have been hugely popular a few years back, these days there are far less bands out there creating this sort of sound though and this brand of pop punk is therefore nowhere near as fashionable as it once was. Musically this band is not hugely creative, what the three members of this band do is effective however and although it won’t be to everyone’s taste it should surely go down well with hardened fans of the genre.
one:day:life made a name for themselves as a band through heavily touring the county with successful school tours. I thoroughly commend this band for their efforts, one:day:life will play any place possible in order to increase exposure and the bands drive and ambition are therefore excellent qualities to see. The problem with this band lies in the nature of the music that is here being created, one:day:life will never make it massive if the music continues in this manner and although further underground success will surely come; I fail to see how this band will be able to break away from this school tour scene at current. This album has been financed by the band themselves so obviously there is a genuine passion for creating music on the behalf of one:day:life, how far the band can progress producing this sound however I feel is extremely limited.
To fellow fans of the pop punk genre I recommend this ‘Heroes, Hoods and Headphones’ album, it’s a decent début from this band and although not particularly progressive or original, what’s here will surely put a smile on your face. The choruses are catchy, the melodies are interesting, and a genuine passion on behalf of the band can definitely here be felt. This is not the best pop punk album you will ever hear, there are a lot of bands out there producing this sound and doing it a lot better but ‘Heroes, Hoods and Headphones’ is still a catchy and quite interesting début album from one:day:life.
Label: Frontierless Records
Release Date: 18th February 2008
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
