Indifferent. Undecided. On the fence. Such are my feelings about The Scaries’ Souvenir. In all honesty, I wanted to hate the disc from the very first note. But my early temptations to write this off as another pop punk disaster faded as the album wore on. Chalk it up to the ever-thinning line between MTV’s suburban brat punk and a more humble melodi-core vibe.
Just the same, like a number of young artists, The Scaries hold on so tight to their sound that they fail to let it breathe properly. From song to song, I found myself wanting them to write in a different key, start a melody off on a different note, or let the recipe for harmonies take a 15-minute break.
Listeners are treated to a brief deviation midway through the album with the song “Counting Scars”, but The Scaries quickly return to the tried and true framework in an instant, ironically with a song called “Disappointed.” While I can’t say I dislike Souvenir, it certainly lacks any defining characteristics that help set it apart from any number of albums released in the past five years.
