The Story So Far - The Story So Far (Album Review)

Progression can come slowly or quickly depending on the band. Walnut Creek California's The Story So Far has been playing heavy, aggressive, catchy pop-punk for years. Their debut album Under Soil and Dirt garnered tons of attention and they became a beacon for pop/punk fans. The bands sophomore album, What You Don't See, fine tuned the formula just enough to add some crisper vibes on the bands sound. The production was a little better. That slight hint of refinement really helped the album. The path for The Story So Far has been these hints of refinement and small strides of progression. That formula has created some really well done well received music. This time around The Story So Far is going the self-titled route and have arguably become one of the biggest bands in the pop/punk scene.

Some criticisms of The Story So Far are that they don't progress enough or that their songs all sound the "same". People criticize Parker Cannon's vocal ability. Some argue that his vocals basically sound the same on all their songs. With the critics comes the champions of the band. They point to Cannon's vocal ability as one of the reasons this band stuck out amongst a crop of pop/punk bands all scrambling to make themselves unique enough to just stick out from the pack a little. I've always been a fan of TSSF. Their songs capture a lot of energy. Cannon's singing style is often times aggressive and while it can be hard to make out some of the words it seems to pump through the songs adding a surge of energy. They once again show off their pop/punk chops. This band easily does it better than most and the formula they've had since day one has been pretty good. So all the detractors that don't like this band because they don't "mix it up" enough will probably have the same problem with this album. This is TSSF sounding basically like TSSF. I don't see that as a bad thing. I don't think the band has worn their abilities too thin just yet. That isn't saying they eventually won't, but this album is another good fine tune for me and I'm enjoying this band continuously staying very similar while still being able to provide a lot of quality songwriting. Maybe I'm just a fan of the band, but it seems like they just have a formula and most of the time it works.

Don't get me wrong; there are some slight hints at progression. "Phantom" may be one of the more well paced melodic songs the band has written. It's an instant stand out song to me. Cannon's vocals have a little more of a sugary sound and melody than he does most of the time. Most of the time the band go strong on the sound they've perfected and deliver songs like "Heavy Gloom". "Heavy Gloom" is TSSF showing off what their fans love about their music. After a brooding intro the song kicks into Cannon's aggressive vocals over some pop/punk riffs. The album has lots of cool guitar parts, it's riffy, and the drumming sounds really good throughout this entire album. It's mixed nicely. "Mock" is another classic TSSF sounding song. It sticks out to me due to some of the melody in the vocals as well as more than a few interesting guitar parts throughout the song. I'm a big fan of how most of the guitar work sounds on the album.

I'm not sure how many more albums The Story So Far have left in them. I'm also not sure how many more times this band can deliver an album of this nature before fans grow restless and want more. Those are fair thoughts to have, but all they are all questions for another album cycle because at this point this band has once again crafted an album that I'm enjoying. It's a great summer album. It has most, if not, everything you'd want in a well done pop/punk release. It's not reinventing the wheel for the genre or for the band. That doesn't make it any less of a good fun and solid release in my opinion.