This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as while sonically Sunnyland is a regression, the songwriting is still of the same quality resulting in an album that will prove a summer staple for pop punk fans around the globe. This isn’t what we got however, as Sunnyland is a return to the sound of the ballad driven mid tempo pop rock of their other post-Lancaster albums. Perhaps the band would break this formula they seemed to have trapped themselves into and would continue pushing themselves on the follow up.

Despite underselling, the album was warmly received by fans which made them excited to see where the band would take this sound. Taking more from Brand New than from Fall Out Boy, the album showed the band at their most creative, ranging from throat searing barn burners (“One of Them Will Destroy the Other”) to gorgeous atmospheric emo ballads (“Look Up and See Infinity, Look Down and See Nothing”) and everything in between. This cycle of great album/mediocre album would repeat again, as proven by their stellar self titled album and it’s half baked follow up Monsters in the Closet, a messy album that despite it’s handful of gems (notably the closing two songs) had just as many head scratching ones.Ģ015’s Black Lines showed the band finally start to experiment with their sound, and the style shift paid off greatly. A salvageable but bland effort that sucked out everything that made the band stand out and replaced it with generic mid tempo radio rock sound alikes that at best turned them into another All Time Low. And Anywhere But Here increased that speculation even more.

But when Lancaster left the band shortly afterwards, it raised speculation if that magic could be recaptured with just Derek. 2007’s A Lesson in Romantics became a pillar of the genre due to the bands knack for writing a hook and the perfect chemistry between key songwriters Derek Sanders and Jason Lancaster. It’s very hard to stand out in pop punk, and few bands know this as much as Mayday Parade a group that has both been able to break the monotony of much of the genre and fall back into it as easily. Review Summary: I know I've got my problems and it's probably me

Mayday album