Album Review - Short Stack - Maybe There's No Heaven
REVIEW BY: JADE GUIDA
Holy Shit. I was a huge Short Stack fan back in the day. I mean, huge. HUGE. I went to see them at the metro theatre, dressed in my best Emo clothes. I skipped School and me and some friends went to meet them in Leichardt for a signing. I am horrified to say that my myspace name was JadieBradieWebb. A fact I will never live down. I even did my year ( I want to say 9 or 10) PDHPE gymnastics routine to “The back of my Head”. I was an enthusiastic Emo kid, what can I say.
When Rawing in the Pit asked for me to check out the New Album I was a bit dubious. I mean, this band had my full attention at one time in my life. I was flying the ‘Stack is the New Black’ flag for a very long time and still have the merch to prove it. I hate being let down by things I used to love. So, when I sat down to have a listen through of Maybe There's No Heaven I did so with nervous anticipation.
This quickly dissipated because the first 49 seconds that was Track 1 - Maybe There's No Heaven was brilliant. A hint of Nostalgia with a truck load of musical and subject matter growth. I was incredibly impressed by how far they had come as musicians after hearing not even a whisper from the band in 10 years.
The whole album is a pop punk banger but with class. I think pop punk is underrated, I think there is always tension between what people think Pop Punk should be and people think it is a basic genre, but I disagree. I think Pop Punk is fun, energetic, and more often than not tackling some real and heavy topics. Maybe There's No Heaven is clever writing and construction. The songs Lyrical content is explosively emotional and mimicked well in the music of the tracks. The track names alone piqued my interest, the track names are like something out of an adventure novel. They almost seem like they could be quest titles! Short stack emerging from the dark after 10 years like fantasy heroes.
My top picks from the album would have to be
Dancing with the Devil
Sunshine
Valkyrie
These three songs were everything I could have hoped for from this band and more. This was like my dream Short Stack release. These three songs were emotional, clever, and very well produced. I could not fault them. They are the pillar of perfection in my eyes and ears.
The album itself comes together very well, lots of fast paced tracks and peaks and some well-timed lulls for you to catch yourself. You can see the growth in their writing style and the vast improvement of the overall structure of the album. There is really something on the album for both old and new fans. The tracks still have that fun, quirky and catchy quality but its just more refined. For new fans, if you like fun, you will like this album.
This album is worth a listen, I would recommend giving it a listen in the track order. There is something nice about how the album is structured BUT in saying that you definitely add your top tracks to any ‘bangers’ playlist.
