Album Review: Handguns - 'Disenchanted'

If Neck Deep, The Story So Far and Handguns did a world tour, it’d be a treat for fans of each band: they’d basically be hearing the same set for three hours. We’re getting sick of writing the same thing for pop punk reviews: something along the lines of, ‘you already know what this sounds like’. Well guess what guys? You already know what this sounds like.

‘Don’t Bite Your Tongue’ was one of the scene’s best EP's way back when, a severely, and enjoyably, angsty six-tracker, which even follow-up LP ‘Angst’ didn’t live up to. But ‘Disenchanted’ falls short with its strict adherence to meaningless conventions. It starts with a cheeky Little Miss Sunshine quote but rains on the listeners’ parade. The lyrics of ‘Self Portrait’ sound like they come from the heart, but aren’t delivered that way. The anxiety jam ‘The Worst In Me’ is similar, while the negativity of ‘Low Spirits’ follows suit. While the actual delivery of tracks like ‘Bury Me’ is strong, the song structure basically makes it sound like something Jarrod Alonge could have written.  Nothing makes us more frustrated than the fact we’ve said that before.

There’s a youth-glorying song on the album, which harks back to ‘those nights’ (‘Conjuring My Youth’) and the heartfelt ‘Missed Calls’ is one of those ‘I-miss-you-when-I-tour’ numbers. The only song on this record worth listening to, unless you’ve never heard a pop punk album before, is ‘Carbon Copy Elitist’. It’s just over a minute, super fast and if the whole album was as sincere as that one tune, this review would be very different. Nevermind that it’s probably making fun of reviewers like us: Handguns ‘don’t really care what bands you think are better’.

This record will make you disenchanted with the state of pop punk. Why does everything have to sound the same? It’s so frustrating that artists are given a platform to create something unique and yet, we keep getting albums that just sound like rewrites. Handguns have potential, and they’ve written some absolute jams in the past: if only their musical direction would do justice to what they're trying to put out there.

1. Self Portrait

2. The Worst In Me

3. My Lowest Point

4. Low Spirits

5. Bury Me

6. Carbon Copy Elitist

7. Disenchanted

8. Conjuring My Youth

9. Missed Calls

10. Recovery