I See Ghøsts – Down Here
At the end of the day, humanity’s great thinkers only had two topics that they deemed worthy of discussing – success and failure. Yes, that may sound like a pretty humorless kind of work schedule, and it may be the reason why so few young people are in the business of pouring over their work with any degree of interest. However, the fact remains that most serious people tend to talk about serious things.
For the rest of us, humor is one more weapon that we can use against terrible scenarios, horrifying events, and dark, uneventful days. But it’s not jokes that high-ranking officials tell each other when they meet to discuss a crisis. And it’s not jokes that people tell each other when to discuss breaking up, never seeing each other again, or negotiating custody of the family dog.
I See Ghøsts works with heavy topics and, most importantly, weighty feelings. You may call this “emo” if you want, but you’d be zeroing in on the song’s greatest strength. “Down Here” is a song about feeling in a perpetual decline, in a trap out of which there is no escape. Who hasn’t felt this ever? Serious people certainly have. And, like some of the works of philosophy of old, this is a study calamity.
STOKE – Goodbye Son
The natural route of your typical pop-punk, for better or worse, is the route of most people as they travel from youth to adulthood. Your typical pop-punk band will sound hopeful, full of energy and always willing to crack a dirty joke when you catch them on their debut records. Stories about their love of fun and how willing they are to meet fans will abound.
Nobody writes darker albums than the same pop-punk bands only a few years from the fact. It’s almost like the Universe has decided that some of balance needs to be struck in the world. Existentialist philosophers and true-blue gothic rockers are not able to reach the depth and despair that your typical pop-punk band does on later albums.
Ecuador’s STOKE has entered its melancholy period, but they ain’t your typical pop-punk band. No, the band brings elements of modern metal, strong melodies, and clean production to “Goodbye Son.” This is a well-constructed song that doesn’t overstay its welcome. But all of that is not enough to get past the deep melancholy of the song. It’s a tune of forced departures, and it’d take an earnest pop-punk band to be able to capture the empty feelings involved so well.
