Album Review: The Next Nevermind by Adult Life

Adult Life are a four-piece pop punk band from Orlando. Influenced by the likes of The Wonder Years, Blink 182 and The Menzingers, they have just released their debut EP The Next Nevermind.

The Next Nevermind begins with the song Eventually. From the start you can hear the pop punk influences pouring out of the song; it's full of hooks, builds and catchy lyrics. In particular I really like the pacing of the song, it's fast paced throughout the majority of the song and this gets some foot-tapping and head-nodding happening straight away. Next up is a song named Victorious. The opening chords are guaranteed to create some great traditional pop punk pogo-ing during a live performance before the guitars cut out and it's just vocals and drums. This really grabs the listener’s attention. The vocals during the verses are delivered in a very punchy style adding a lot of attitude. Towards the end of the song Adult Life change things up a bit and add some hardcore growls into the song, similar to Bring Me The Horizon. I felt this was kind of unnecessary for the track as it had enough to it without the growling. I really enjoyed the next song - Excuses. There's a bit more of a maturity about the song and it feels like some real thought has gone into the track. Tempo wise, it's slower but this is countered with some great melodies and a superbly catchy chorus. There is a section towards the end of the song when the intensity levels are raised before a new vocal comes in and adds some more life into the song. 

The fourth song is titled Lifeline. This song has more a serious feeling to it, especially during the verses. There is a dark and brooding quality to the vocals before the mood is lifted during the chorus. There is some excellent guitar work throughout Lifeline that really stands out above all else. The penultimate song on the EP is Rabble Rabble. The opening lyrics remind me so much of The Starting Line in delivery. Adult Life's "Tell Me What To Bitch About" sounds so similar in delivery as The Starting Lines "Tell Me What You Thought About" from their classic song Best Of Me. After this there is some fun Blink 182 inspired pop punk. Rabble Rabble ticks all of the pop punk boxes; it's fun, it’s catchy, it grabs your attention, it has moments that make you bounce and you'll be humming it for days. The Next Nevermind finishes with the song This Polaroid Life. This Polaroid Life is about remembering to stop and take time to remember events in your life and using those memories to grow. Throughout the song there are plenty of key changes that make it hard to predict where the song will go next. This is a really creative way of writing songs, especially in the pop punk genre where sometimes things can sound all too similar.

Stream and download The Next Nevermind here: https://adultlifeband.bandcamp.com/album/the-next-nevermind-ep

Like Adult Life here: https://www.facebook.com/adultlifeband