Begin Again - Everything Is Changing (EP Review)

Ashley Cadwallader, the former vocalist of Smalls, was riding a high with her old band Smalls. The band was the talk of the internet for both bad and good reasons. Cadwallader's departure caused some media controversy (mainly what had led to her no longer being in the band). All that aside I was excited to discover that she has a new band, Begin Again, and I was excited to check out the debut EP which shot up the bandcamp charts in extremely quick fashion on the release day.

The short three track EP is a little cooler and longer if you grab it on bandcamp. It includes a bonus track titled "Wendy Snow" with smooth vocals that honestly closes the EP really nicely...and bumps the track list up to four songs. "Pop Punk's Dead You're Next" is a song that starts really quick paced and levels off about a minute into the song before it speeds up again. It features some aggressive male vocals that work really well in contrast to vocalist Ashley Cadwallader The guitar work on the EP sounds great. I really dig the slight grunge sheen. It adds a little roughness to the music and couples really nicely with the vocals. I think the vocal performance and the musical performance has a lot of really nice melodic pop/punk moments mixed with some nice sounding pop/punk instrumentation. It has solid enough production without sounding too polished.

This is a good, fun EP from Begin Again. The EP has a ton of life, the songs sound fresh and energetic, and I really like the flow of the release. Cadwallader's vocals are great and it's some of the best female fronted pop/punk I've heard this year. Give this one a chance; it's really solid.