Scholar - Choose Adventure (Album Review)

Scholar has been on my radar for a while. I was instantly interested to hear what the group would do when I first streamed a couple songs on their bandcamp page a while back. Well the wait is finally over and the group will release their debut album Choose Adventure on November 12, 2013.

Choose Adventure is extremely well done. It's well written, well produced, and well performed. It's almost the kind of pop/punk album you wait all year to hear. It merges a lot of the classic elements I've come to enjoy from early-mid 2000s pop/punk with some elements from the current era of pop/punk. It's been a great year for pop/punk (which I've said time and time again this year), but it seems the essential releases are still coming because this album is an album you have to check out if you are a fan of the genre.

The entire album has such good songwriting and flow. The guitars sound so good. It has standout moments for the bass guitar and the rhythm section as a whole has this nice driving force. Vocally it's a super solid pop/punk performance as well. The album kind of reminds me of when Set Your Goals released Mutiny and it was like a kick in the teeth to how good pop/punk really can be when done the right way.

"The Rift" has such a great vibe. The intro riff leads into a great pop/punk song that captures and showcases the band's ability to write really good songs. It's a track I keep going back to. I really like the pacing and build-ups. "I Wish I Knew How To Quit You" has some great sing-along-able parts and it has some great classic sounding pop/punk riffs over some heavy hitting fast paced drumming. It's an adrenaline rush that recalls classic Houston Calls mixed with Blink 182's Dude Ranch era goodness.

The cover art is really well done and really caught my attention. For some reason it reminded me of The Goonies. It might have to do with the skulls, swords, gold, and an adventure theme.  It's always a good thing, in my opinion, when things remind you of The Goonies.

This is a really good debut and a great start for this band. You really couldn't ask for much more from the album. I've listened to it and tried to find something to nitpick on and really I can't find much. It really is a pretty impressive pop/punk album. It has definitely impressed me and will definitely be on my favorite albums of the year list.