I’ve come to the wavering, and uncertain, semi-conclusion that Four Year Strong - Enemy Of The World and Rise Against - Appeal To Reason are most definitely this years summer albums. The reason for the ucnertainty behind these choices are that there are a vast amount of albums that shimmer over the line of ‘summer anthems’ when in fact, you’re just put into a good mood by the sun and enjoy the music for what it is, not neccesarily because the music heard is suited perfectly to the weather and mood of the summer season.

Four Year Strong manage to amalgamate a collection of fantastically happy, fun and smile-till-you-ache style music. The bouncing riffs and relatable yet suitably fitting lyrics create a relation between the entourage of members and a listener. the fast paced, musically diverse, songs just get me in the mood for summer BBQ’s, days on the beach and driving with the sun behind you.

I cannot express my love for Rise Against effectively enough in words, but I shall attempt to on another day. Appeal To Reason is, regardless of the lyrics or feel of the songs, an overall sunny album. 

I was sat with my Dad, just then, and Scram C Baby  - Protect Me From What I Want came on. I could tell he liked it because he stopped talking for a second, to take it in and listen to the lyrics. It was odd, because he was in the middle of having a deep talk about my future, so his stopping to listen was unexpected. My Dad is good with words, but not so with putting his feelings towards a song into an understandable compression of words. It was even more peculiar to hear him say “Why do I like this?”

It’s difficult to try and explain to your dad, who you don’t see too much, why he likes a song that he’s never heard before. I started to tell him why he likes it, explaining how it’s just the pure simplicity of the song - The way there’s a minimal amount of instruments used to portray the exact feelings of the singer and his message, written delicately in the lyrics. It was the way there was only one line of lyrics, that coinsided with the title of the song and how it was related to materialistic desires and  a recognition that a collection of once desired items would soon become discarded and that it was more important to trasure what you had a the moment that work towards always trying to obtain spur of the moment thrills. 

This didn’t really apply much to me, being a young person, aspiring towards greater things as I grow up, but for my dad, who’s more than settled down, he just smiled and agreed with me.

“You’ve nailed it on the head there” he said. I only wrote this down because him saying that meant something to me. So here it is.