The Playbook - 'What We Left Behind' - Album Review
REVIEW BY: JADE GUIDA
PlayBook had absolutely no right to have a 2 year hiatus.
I saw this band maybe 3 years ago the Record Crate in Sydney (rest it’s soul).
I hadn’t ever really been in to local bands at the time but someone had brought me along to the gig and I was like so taken by this bands presence, I got a CD and fell in love with local music. While these guys aren’t exactly local to me, I always say that this was the gig that really set me on the path of photography, reviewing and my now unwavering love of local music.
This release is compilation release of previously unheard material and it just sort of threw me back to my younger and slightly wilder self, the girl who fell in love with local pop punk and has been unable to return. The band over it’s 8 year lifespan become synonymous with the Melbourne Pop-punk Scene due to their signature blend of high energy musicianship, emotive and relatable thematic writing style and overall catchy tunes.
Through this rich collection of unreleased gems you are given a really intimate peak in to this band, their music and their process. You take this journey through 27 tracks of originals, original demos and even a few sneaky covers and each song just bring you closer to the music and overall it is an enthralling experience. Unlike a standard EP or album there is no way to describe the flow of the track listings because you can see they were not written to be a cohesive unit.
Despite this, the tracks flow easily in to one another fitting together and telling the story of this band and their history, their emotional and musical development as a band.
What a fucking treat.
I am absolutely ecstatic to have this been unleashed on the world.
This demands to be on repeat and I will be obliging.
FOLLOW THE PLAYBOOK -
