PULLBACK

What on earth happened here...? WHOKILLEDXIX seem to have realized that their traditional style would soon wear thin, and I agree; it was too formulaic. However, is pop punk / pop rock the way to go? I don't think so. It sounds washed out, lazy, soulless, and is beyond forgettable. The worst songs here blur together and invoke no emotion in me. There are parts of PULLBACK that are legitimately hard to get through. Glimmers of hope throughout this album make the punk stints feel like a bad nightmare... but that shit always wriggles back into the mix. There are signs of XIX developing their style in enjoyable ways (CURB, DEADMEAT, HAKOSUKA, sort of 1FEELNUMB). HAKOSUKA is easily the best track on the album and is the only thing holding up this 40 rating. Its second half had me headbanging, but that could also be because I had to sit through what came before it. When Bad Things Happen... sounded alright and then opened up into this grading middle school ass final chorus. lovestory feels like a random satire of a hyperpop song dropped in right near the end. The closer, nothing else, single-handedly made me drop this rating from a 45 to a 40, and that still feels a bit generous. Overall, PULLBACK is such a shitshow and is especially disappointing considering what XIX is capable of.