Taken By Tomorrow - When The Dust Settles

Taken By Tomorrow

When The Dust Settles
self-released

3.4 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Have we gotten our fill of pop punk? Apparently not because the genre is still alive and well. The genre has been thriving for longer than a decade and more and more bands pop up all the time. Taken By Tomorrow is one of those bands and after listening to their release When The Dust Settles they seem to know exactly what they are doing. I’ll be honest when I say some pop punk makes me cringe and gives me a visceral reaction to knock my head against the wall until I knock myself out. 

Luckily, I didn’t feel that way when I listened to When The Dust Settles. When The Dust Settles doesn’t sound like it was made for pre-teens whose only first world problem is that their iPhone isn’t the latest version. I wouldn’t go as far to say that many people over thirty-five would dig this but some people in their twenties will.

One reason for this is because the lead singer doesn’t have the contrived overly used nasally twine that has become a staple of the genre. He sounds like himself. When he sings it isn’t forced. The other thing I applaud the band for is that they blend genres. They aren’t mixing in Jungle or Techno but they do mix in what could be considered alternative and even metal.

They start off with the title track, which is arguably the most pop punk sounding out of the bunch. All things considered the song is well written and it showcases the band’s technical talent. The next song “Blame Me” is quite eclectic. The fast BPM and thrashing chords reminded me of NOFX at times but the slightly cheesy lyrics reminded me of an ‘80s song. The vocalist sings, “ You want to fight you got to go you want to scream but you can’t just ever let go.”

The ‘80s vibe isn’t evident in only “Blame Me.” The fourth track “The Price I Pay” contains a good amount of ‘80s-inspired metal. It’s that lead guitar and palm muting that really drives home that sound. 

I can confidently say that Taken By Tomorrow is a step above the majority of the pop-punk bands I have heard. In a genre where bands militantly follow clichés it was nice to hear a band that was willing to step slightly outside of the box.  

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