Roads & Ruins - The Darkest Hour (EP Review)

Yesterday started off crazy with tons of mind melting Blink 182 related news. As the day progressed it got even wilder and more interesting. That wasn't the only thing going on in the pop/punk world yesterday! A new pop/punk band named Roads & Ruins released their debut EP The Darkest Hour. I came across Roads & Ruins while scrolling through bandcamp. After giving the first single "Years" a few listens I definitely decided I was more than a little interested in hearing the bands EP, The Darkest Hour. How did my listening experience go over?

This EP is coming from a relatively new band, just founded in 2015, and to already be releasing this quality of music shows some real promise. The EP is four tracks which includes three songs and an acoustic interlude. The recording and production is slightly rough around the edges , but it's full of solid songwriting and strong performances. The band's first single "Years" showcases how catchy this band can be. It grew on me after a couple listens. It's riffy, catchy, fast and has a really solid vocal performance. The song also has some pretty good lyrics. I think most pop/punk fans would really get into lyrics from the song like: "It’s been a year today, a year you took away from me." The single artwork also caught my attention which caused me to check this band out in the first place (it looks pretty similar to the actual EP artwork). Closing song "Weekends" ends the album with a really solid song. The song comes after the acoustic interlude "Seven Thirty" and it ends the EP with high energy and solid lyrics. The song has a real classic-era Blue Skies... The Ataris sort of feel to me.

Overall this is a good first EP from this band. There are a couple spots for improvement, but for a relatively new band this EP impressed me quite a bit. The songs have a great listenability. They have been growing on me with repeated listens. The overall songwriting and performance is really good and I'm digging the EP. Check it out!