Returning with their third full-length record, Vacation, Seaway have thrown themselves back in the deep end of pop-punk. The Canadian quintet have found themselves reaching great heights through their previous releases, landing support slots from titan’s Neck Deep and Simple Plan whilst building themselves a dedicated fanbase who are always seeking some equally huge poppunk singalongs.

Vacation seems to be an album which revolves around two key themes and reflects the real story of the band’s struggles with balancing touring the world versus the comfort of home life. This makes Vacation one of the more emotionally loaded albums I’ve covered this year and straight from the offset you become part of the narrative and are able to see how it continues to grow through the listen. Heavy ska-rock and punchy pop-punk solos dominate the majority of the tracks, whether it be through the irrefutable catchiness and bounce of ‘Scatter My Ashes Along The Coast Or Don’t’ or the hilarious unmissable uses of pop culture references within ‘Something Wonderful’.

For myself, one of the biggest standouts on the record is ‘London’. Whilst UK pop-punk fans are so accustom to the notion of packing up and heading over to the LA shores, it’s interesting to hear the perspective from those living outside of the UK’s drizzly weather. The track is not only a demonstration of pop-punk at its finest through some great vocal variance and passion, but the narrative behind the track is certainly something that many audiences will relate with deeply on a personal level. A killer breakdown ends the number in a truly flavoursome manner and the torrent of punchy instrumentals is certainly one that you can’t help head banging along to every time.

Clear influences from the likes of Weezer are more than present throughout whether it be in the muddy basslines or dreary vocals within ‘Lula On The Beach’. However, the addition of heavier vocals from singer, Ryan Locke really morphs the sound into something surprisingly refreshing on the pop-punk scene.

The album does find itself slipping slightly in its mid-range with a selection of the songs bordering pretty heavy on the classic pop-punk formula without feeling overly special, however, the opening and closing parts of the record are more than enough to support the album’s validity. ’40 Over’ brings a wholesome penultimate ending to the record, the slower introduction and soloed vocals erupt into a holistic sound from all directions, the pounding drums and overlaying guitar hit hard and we see the best example of Ryan and co-vocalist Patrick Carleton’s ability to harmonise two drastically different singing styles in a colourful manner which very few bands would be able to execute so powerfully. The catch to the track definitely makes it a singalong many will be eager to see live and is definitely one which easily holds the strongest level of emotional resonance.

Seaway have definitely made yet another solid record with Vacation, will it be one to reform the pop punk world? Probably not. It feels like above all Seaway have focused on making a record which truly reflects who they are. The boys are long past the days of singing about getting out of their town, but now they have escaped, they’ve come face to face with a whole new range of issues which they’ve incorporated beautifully through their music. If Vacation is a fresh introduction to a new era of Seaway’s sound, I think it is one that many will be able to nicely sink into and continue to enjoy for a long time.

Ben Walker

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