With the pop-punk scene growing at a rapid rate, many bands included in that genre tend to strive for a certain kind of youthfulness that represents the demographic of their listeners. Some bands do it well, others not so much. Baltimore’s 3PM is one of those bands that indeed does it well.
Their sophomore album Slow Me Down (produced by alternative music veteran, Paul Leavitt) is jam-packed with songs that will bring back memories of those summer nights spent under fluorescent streetlights doing whatever you wanted because it just felt right. This album definitely has strong similarities to what bands like All Time Low or Yellowcard have put out in the past, but that is not a bad thing by any means.
Slow Me Down starts out with the bright guitar riffs of Something New, picks up with the heavy punk beat of Missed Call, and then slows down a bit with My Soul On Fire. I could definitely tell that 3PM tried many things with this album.
This album does however appear to contain many songs about love (and lost), which is all too common with the genre and I found myself becoming rather bored of the past relationships that Brennan, the vocalist, sings about over the course of this 11 album song.
If I had to pick a favorite track off this record, it would be their single Slow Me Down. To me, it contains the right amount of fast, slow, and meaty drum fills that make any song great (even if it is just another love song).
All in all, the risks 3PM took in creating Slow Me Down weren’t for not, as this is a pretty decent piece of work. Is it a bit too generic? Sure; but this is only their second album so they have plenty of room to grow and find their unique style that will captivate the even the snobbiest of pop-punk fans. Make sure you check out Slow Me Down for yourself on August 15 and catch a 3PM show when their tour dates go live.
Photo credits- Ethan Hansen
