Review: Rival Town 'Useless Hands'
Rival Town ‘Useless Hands’ album artwork
Canadian pop-punk band Rival Town return, not only with new members but also in a new direction.
Pop-punk has had a resurgence in the last few years, which is always exciting, but in such a crowded scene, how does a band stay relevant, make a name for themselves, or adapt? Rival Town, who has been on the scene since 2015, seems to have found their answer. To mix genres and styles to become a hybrid of pop-punk and post-hardcore. This certainly isn’t the first time that genre mix has happened in the scene, but, in a time where many bands in the scene have gone in a more “poppy”, less “punky” direction to gain popularity, it’s extremely rare to see a band go in the opposite direction (hopefully not less popular of course). I’m not afraid to say it, that was a huge surprise for your humble reviewer.
Even though it’s on the shorter side of a full length (8 tracks totaling a little over 26 minutes) this is Rival Town’s second full length, behind an EP that was released in 2018. Between the EP Make It Work and recording Useless Hands, the band went through a few major changes including members and labels. Label changes can always affect a band’s dynamics, but mostly not to the extent of a member change, especially a lead vocalist change. Rival Town welcomed a new lead vocalist in Mike Julian and a lot changed. There’s a higher vocal range, but also the addition of screaming (or unclean vocals for those of you who prefer that terminology)!
You obviously don’t want to focus on one element in a review, and I certainly haven’t, but it does change the dynamic of the sound of the band. Rival Town has always had a melodic edge to their pop-punk roots. It’s evident to a lesser extent in Call It Like It Is, but it becomes more apparent in Make It Work as Cary (previous lead vocalist) also brings more heavy melody with the “darker”/heavier side of the instrumentation present. With the addition of screaming in Useless Hands, an extra level of surprise, passion, and hopelessness is added. When listening through, the story focuses on instances of helplessness, especially a very sad case of a member’s mother passing of cancer. Screaming adds an extra dynamic of that narration. On top of that, the style of screaming isn’t what might be typical of a pop-punk band, it’s higher and has a gritty edge to it, almost like it belongs to a very heavy metalcore band or a sinister deathcore band. This gives the release something more unique to the scene and something that can be expanded upon in the future. It allows for future development and a dynamic band that fosters staying power.
The only track that seems a little out of place is the final track, ‘Movement’. An acoustic track is no stranger to a pop-punk album or even a metalcore album, but the flow seems just a little off here and it leaves the album without that final knockout punch. It’s a good song of course, very personal, but the placement doesn’t necessarily fit. Don’t be confused though, the narrative fits when you dive into the lyrics, but there was more of a lasting ending in ‘A New Normal’. You may hear it as well when you listen.
Rival Town has shown very impressive growth over their three releases and ‘Useless Hands’ expands that to show a dynamic and surprising side of the band. This release is a testament that they can mix it up in genres that can become very stale and complacent. With Useless Hands, you have the catchiness and relatability of pop-punk and the passion, melody, and drive of post-hardcore all in one. It will be very interesting to see what kind of band Rival Town will be in the future, but so far, the journey has been more than just interesting.
Check out the tracklist below:
Rival Town - Useless Hands
The Room Was Quiet
Useless Hands
Castaways
Hide
Soaring On
Bridges
A New Normal
Movement