Not quite stuck in the past but clearly influenced by the
likes of Less Than Jake, early Taking Back Sunday and Four Year Strong. Big
idols indeed but Forever Came Calling has a bite just as big as their bark.
Infused within them is a pop punk pedigree and while taking a move in the right
direction with a genre that may have been overlooked in recent years.
‘Ides’ is the fifth track off Contender and most probably
the catchiest with a fun bass line that carries the song through a pure punk
adventure.
‘If Bukowski Could See Me Now’ crafts big, gutsy vocals that
flourish into a serious melodic tune. The rebel in Forever Came Calling is
released in ‘For The Wolves’, the fast paced song includes rowdy multiple
vocals though short and snappy the band have made sure that fans and listeners
find it impossible to get bored. Showering their debut with stubborn,
sabotaging sound ‘Harbours’ has that youthful combat that the band was designed
for.
But it’s ‘The Office’ that really stands out from the first set of lyrics
‘who knew dancing to no music was so much fun?/No money, no museum/but I had
the sights’ right through to its verging on Emo chorus it is without a doubt a
great song.
The ten track album may have frequent hints of a revolution
and a distinctive mutiny which has been done before but Forever Came Calling
are not starting a trend instead this album wishes to gush brutal honesty, quarrelsome
with a pugnacious attitude all with pop punk in mind. Summer may have briefly
come and gone but Contender raises the temperature in all its form.
