3pm - change of plans

3pm

Change Of Plans
self-released; 2013

3.5 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Hailing from Baltimore, MD, 3PM is an energetic group of kids that play pop-punk not unlike other contemporaries such as New Found Glory and Yellowcard. The 14 songs of their latest album Change of Plans are catchy, mostly all above 125 BPM and will be  attractive to a lot of teenagers. My guess is that they already have quite a fan base of high schools girls at their concerts swooning over their mystique. These songs are the kind that I would be embarrassed to have in my playlist being a 34 year-old man but may just file under the guilty pleasure tab for those type of days. The two things that are undeniable about these songs is that they are catchy and they really sound professional. Being a bit of an audiophile you have to appreciate the engineering on this album as it sounds just as good as anything on popular radio. These songs all sound similar using the same basic structure; that makes the album a bit hard to take down in one sitting. 

The album begins with “Born To Lose” which utilizes pop-punk clichés such as palm muting, anthemic choruses and incredible metronome type drumming. I found myself unapologetically attracted to the song realizing that these kids can write one helluva catchy tune in less than three minutes. “At Least I Tried” starts off a bit different than some of the other songs; clean guitars, a different vocal style that I would have been perfectly happy listening to for the remainder of the song. Despite my wishes 3PM returns to their pop-punk tendencies and chooses to turn on their distortion pedals. The highlight for me was “And The Story Goes” which felt the most original and has some incredible drum work that no matter type of music you like you have to appreciate.

The thing with this album  is that you will know what you are in for after the first song. Since I’m out of the age bracket that these kids play music for, it is hard for me to relate and get into this type of music. With that being said I feel like they know exactly what type of music they want to make and they do that very well. So if you are into pop-punk geared towards a younger audience you may want to pick this up or for at least your 17 year-old niece.

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