Four Year Strong – Enemy of the World

Band: Four Year Strong
Album: Enemy of the World
Year: 2010
Label: Universal
Myspace

Best Song: Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride
Score: 8.5/10
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Although they’ve been around for nearly ten years now, Four Year Strong officially arrived on the pop punk scene as a force in 2007 with their release of Rise Or Die Trying. Their popularity has skyrocketed and has since landed them a deal on Universal Motown, a move that has only broadened and accelerated the growth of their fan-base. Hundreds of shows, a cover album, and a few years later we arrive in 2010 where Four Year Strong are back with their brand new album entitled Enemy Of The World.

Enemy Of The World has the daunting task of living up to the internet buzz surrounding it, but I am here to tell not to worry, because not only does it live up to the expectations, it surpasses them in every possible way. If you’ve been dreaming an album that blends a glass of upbeat punk, an appetizer of melodic hardcore, and main dish of infectious pop hooks together nearly flawlessly, look no farther.

The album opens with “It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now”, a great choice because of the chorus ‘Don’t fix it if it hasn’t broken yet’ can be used as a metaphor for their music because even as they have progressed as a band, they have stayed true to their sound. It’s just an awesome song that shows that Four Year Strong hasn’t sold out and or gone soft by signing with a major label, because they are still as heavy, fast, poppy, catchy, and fun as last time you heard them. “On A Saturday” delivers with synthesizer and speedy drumming that doesn’t give you a chance to catch your breath. You will find yourself repeating “The taller you are, the harder you fall” right away.

The first single, “Wasting Time (Eternal Summer)” makes a lot of sense because it’s just a great pop punk song. It’s missing the breakdowns, but that is what makes it worthy of that choice. It has catchy rhyming lyrics that make it easy to sing along with and it’s easy for a lot of us to relate to idea of wasting our time away. “Nineteen With Neck Tatz” takes you back to the heavier side with in your face the dual and gang-vocals, while “Find My Way Back” is another song filled with pop hooks and could have probably been used as the first single if they had wished to.

The second half of the album follows the same frantic pace, and before you know it you will have multiple runs through the full thing. “What The Hell Is A Gigawatt?” features their heaviest breakdowns and screams on the album, which sounds A Day To Remember-esque. They are pretty cautious with the synth throughout the album but it stands out again in this song. “One Step At A Time” and “This Body Pays The Bill$” transition back into the pop punk category with more catchy hooks that you will find yourself singing along with in no time.

At this point, you would think the album is about to reach the filler section, but instead the album ends with a bang. “Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride” keeps up the pace with a killer chorus that goes, “You’ll have to face the consequences that can bring you down. Try to play the game because you can get knocked back underground”. This is probably my favorite on the album at the moment because it has interesting lyrics and mixes the pop and hardcore as well as possible. “Flannel Is The Color Of My Energy” features a more traditional punk sound and the synth again. It could have easily been a b-side of Rise Or Die Trying. Finally, the closer is the title track “Enemy Of The World”, which was a great choice to end the album with. It epitomizes the entire album in a nutshell with thrashing drums, breakdowns, great backup and gang vocals, and killer guitar riffs.

With all of the hype surrounding Enemy Of The World, we can be sure of one thing: Four Year Strong is here to stay. If New Found Glory and Set Your Goals are the current kings of pop punk, they had better make room on the throne for Four Year Strong. Enemy Of The World holds its ground against any pop punk album of the past decade. I believe that if you were to conduct a poll with eleven people on which is the best track, you might get eleven different answers, that is what makes this album a must have. It definitely does not suck to be Four Year Strong right now.

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