Chunk! No Captain Chunk! - Get Lost, Find Yourself (Album Review)

French band Chunk! No Captain Chunk! is one of those easycore bands that sprung up a few years ago and along with bands like Four Year Strong and A Day To Remember took a jab at improving the formula New Found Glory started when they first dubbed the term "easycore". A lot of these bands have gone by the wayside and broken up but Chunk! along with A Day To Remember and Four Year Strong have been enjoying continued success. A Day To Remember really propelled themselves with 2013's Common Courtesy as the leaders of this sub-genre. Chunk's last album, Pardon My French, showed them coming out strong with the sound, but I found it a little tough to find much that stuck with me. After hearing the singles for Get Lost, Find Yourself I was more interested in this album than I had anticipated.

Get Lost, Find Yourself leans on the band's pop sensibilities far more than any of their other albums and to me comes out far stronger. It's a ton more enjoyable of a listening experience than Pardon My French. I often times find that bands like this and A Day To Remember just can't find a balance in their pop-punk meets hardcore. Most of it doesn't keep my interest and feels gimmicky and I come out usually enjoying the pop/punk elements and finding the hardcore parts really vanilla and boring. I think Chunk! finds a nice balance and it's maybe some of the best I've heard in a long while. Possibly besides those earlier Four Year Strong albums. Now that's not saying the gimmick can't get old at times and the mishmash of sounds can be hit or miss. I'm just saying, in general, I came out thinking this was pretty well balanced and executed really nicely. This is just a really fun sounding summer jam album. It's high octane and really sing-a-long-able.

Now to my criticism of the album and the criticism for really similar bands. It's not the most original style and it does have that sugar rush and then it's over kind of vibe. Meaning I'm not sure it will have a ton of lasting power with me. I'm not sure that initial surprise of interest and the intense power surge can last on repeated listens. With that in mind this album really surprised me and just has something this band hasn't had before. I think it kind of caught me off guard with how much I actually enjoyed it. Pardon My French showed some continued improvements, but there were times I just found it a little too paint by numbers or just found the style blending really off putting. The flow and songwriting are significantly improved, in my opinion. I'm appreciating this with the apprehension that I realize it may not be something that holds a lot of lasting value. Some of that wear and tear has already started to show on repeated listens for me. The song "The Other Line" with the chugging riffs and hardcore vocals have really started losing a little of the initial luster and that's with this album being basically brand new. I'm just not sure how well this is going to age, but take in mind this could be a huge summer album and the songs just seem made for warm weather.

On the opposite end songs like "Set It Straight" find a perfect balance. The song has all the catchiness of pop/punk and the hardcore elements improve the song on repeated listens. It sticks out to me as a favorite. The acoustic title track "Get Lost, Find Yourself" is a good acoustic song and it's a welcomed addition on this album. It really gives the listener a somber moment and a little rest between those chugging riffs and fast paced sing-a-longs. "Pull You Under" leans more on the hardcore elements. It chugs along and the first part of the song sounds like something you'd hear on an album from The Devil Wears Prada. This is one of the better, more hardcore influenced songs on the album. It keeps it going just long enough for the more melodic vocals to kick in and it finds a nice balance of sounds. I can see fans of the band's entire catalog really enjoying this song.

Overall I think if you're a fan of easycore then this is one of the better albums I've heard from the genre and think you're really going to like it. If you aren't a fan you should give this album a chance because it surprised me with how well it is crafted. There are a ton of reasons Chunk! No Captain Chunk! should be really happy with this album. They've crafted an album full of great summer songs, found some nice balance in their sound, and have an album that to me is the strongest thing they've written to date. While it's not the most original it does the style justice and finds more than a few moments to crank up to eleven while keeping the songs mostly accessible to pop/punk or pop/rock fans.