SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FIRE IN THE RADIO – MONUMENTS

Fire In The Radio
Monuments
Wednesday Records

This is the third album from a Philadelphia-based melodic punk outfit Fire in the Radio, and there is certainly a real swagger of confidence here. The guitars pick up the pace and the band are not scared of adding some keyboards, and this provides a bit of synth-generated power pop here and there, such as in the opener “Let’s Get To The Start.” As an album, it has a frantic urgency about it. With no song touching the four-minute level on the timer, the melody hooks you in and the lyrics are interesting. “Gravity”, that tells of a ghost, had me looking up the lyrics as they were interesting in their own right.

I found the band on this album reaching out for a wider audience than their immediate fanbase, and there was enough here to indicate that they can break through. On the slight downside, the reason why it doesn’t get full marks, is that the tracks do blend a little into each other, they didn’t have me come away remembering a track that still had me humming the tune. The tracks are written internally, with Miller and Carbone getting the credits, and there is talent there that is finding its wings with this album.

As a last note, the album in no way drops off, and there is no sense of filler numbers in between. In fact, the possible best track is saved for the end.  “Save Me” has the qualities of a single and leaves the listener on a musical high.

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