Day 77: Gameface - Now is What Matters Now

Artist:   Gameface
Album:  Now is What Matters Now
Source:  Spotify

Pre-listening Notes:  Up until about 2000, I loved this band.  Not that I decided to stop loving them, I just kind of forgot about them.  Every once in a while, I'll pull out an old album and put them on, but lyrically I just don't seem to feel the same way about them as I did in my college years.  So, they broke up, but then got back together or something.  This is their first album in a decade (I had no idea they put out an album in 2003), there are a few bands from this era/genre that have done this successfully, lets see if they can.
        
Initial Reaction:  Okay, it's more poppy than I was expecting.  I don't know why, I guess I just thought that a decade later, they were going to come back with a mellower sound.  It's pretty catchy.  It's pretty pop punk sounding, not in the modern sense, but what was considered pop punk in the late 90's.     

Random Thoughts:  So far this sounds like it could have been written during the bands heyday, for better or worse.  Jeff Caudill's vocals still sound just about the same.  Okay, the second song dragged on a tiny bit too long.  The hook just got repeated a few too many times.  The songs are definitely catchy and given a totally different time in my life, I probably would be shouting how great this was from the rooftops.  It's actually really good, I'm not saying it's bad.  I just don't go crazy for this stuff the way I used to.  Some of the repeated parts get a little tedious, is probably my only complain up to this point.  The song Lifetime Achievement Award is a more punk than pop song, but the ending is just too damn cheesy.               

Final Reaction:  This really just sounds like a Gameface record.  This wasn't really what I was expecting to happen after not being a band for so long.  Like I said, if this had been me in college, I would have eaten this up.  That said, I might listen to this again once or twice more to make sure it's not a grower.  But, overall, this is pretty good.  I think if they play some shows, they could even gain the recognition of the some of the newer fans of this genre. 

Final Grade:  7.0/10