Reviews

Learn the Hard Way is a record that makes me wonder why other pop-punk bands even bother, it's not like they're going to make something better. That's not an oversell, right?

The Copyright's second Red Scare release is a musical return to Mutiny Pop, taking construction lessons from Make Sound. The band has consistently released albums that manage to stay fresh and improve upon their predecessors, a feat hard enough for any band but even more impressive within the simplistic confines of pop-punk. If the shelf life of any given pop-punk act is short, these guys are putting out every flavor while they can.

Upon my first listen, I was instantly surprised by a faster and more aggressive sound than I expected. Every track on the album has a catchy chorus and a great breakdown, like this one from "Second Hearse Same as the First:" "We used to think/But now we know better/Today we realize/That we only know worse."

These kind of light-hearted, self-deprecating lyrics appear throughout the album, most specifically in "Switchblades," where Fletcher sings, "We brought knives to a gun fight/We're in above our heads." Luke, drummer and songwriter, lauds his efforts to adjust to post-education life: "I've tried everything short of waking up before noon/And try to find work, instead of watch cartoons."

Despite all the vitriol on tracks like "Shit's Fucked," it's the intermediary cool-offs and wind-downs that make this album. Although The Copyrights fire through the entire album with intensity (there aren't even breaks between songs), they take a little space on tracks like "Headaches" and "Two Left Feet." This gives the album a chance to breathe, plus it throws in some necessary stylistic variety. Like the tape-flipping effect of Make Sound, the middle of "Switchblades" and the last track include little instrumental breaks, which mark a connective tissue throughout the album.

Albums born of The Copyrights' genre can be listened to track-by-track, usually in any order. They are essentially singles collections. But Learn the Hard Way defies that tendency and actually sounds best listened to track-after-track in order. The degree of cohesion here is basically unheard in pop-punk. So if you haven't listened to The Copyrights before, now is the time.