The fourth full-length offering from Ocala, FL-based punk-pop/metalcore outfit
A Day to Remember opens with vocalist
Jeremy McKinnon screaming “I am fueled by all forms of failure”. What Separates Me from You is whiney, petulant, immature, hopeless, and thoroughly addicting, as the ten songs contained within the gatefold packaging (with the not-so-subtle painting of a man on a busy city street, trapped in an hourglass as the sand piles up around him) are as immaculately crafted and engaging as they are blindingly self-absorbed. Produced by
New Found Glory’s
Chad Gilbert, WSMFY blurs the line between clean vocal emo-punk and throat-exploding metalcore with great success, especially on the more brutal offerings like “Sticks and Stone”, “2nd Sucks”, “You Be Tails,” “I'll Be Sonic,” and the guitarmony-laden album high point “This Is the House that Doubt Built.” While mopey, melodic punk-pop jams like “All Signs Point to Lauderdale” and “Out of Time” may sound like second-rate
Against Me! cuts, the performances are so flawless and the knob-twiddling (mouse clicking) is so dialed in, that the volume nearly goes up on its own. ~ James Christopher Monger