The Story So Far - I Want To Disappear - album review

By Jess Greenwood.

Emerging from California 17 years ago, pop-punk act, The Story So Far, released their fifth full length studio album, I Want To Disappear. The band stick to their roots with this latest record, boasting heavy drum beats and catchy guitar riffs whilst still in keeping with their talent to pair such sounds with incredibly personal lyrics.

The Story So Far last announced new music six years ago, and in the time between then and now have gone through a resculpting of their makeup with bassist Kelen Capener parting ways and drummer Ryan Torf taking over bass duties within the studio. Due to the departure of their bassist and Torf only possessing 2 hands, Man Overboard’s former bassist Nik  Bruzzese joined them for the tour and continues to at present.

The band confessed that this record had been long in the making and that taking such a gap between projects allowed them to take their time with the quality they wanted from their work, and thus I Want To Disappear, was born.

The album opens fast and furiously with ‘All This Time’, reaching high energy levels quickly before a seamless transition into ‘Watch You Go’ which keeps the high tempo and couples the catchy guitar riffs with heart wrenching lyrics like ‘Still concealing the way that i’m feeling / how i‘m healing might never be enough’.

I felt that throughout the record in ‘Letterman’, ‘Jump The Gun’ and ‘Big Blind’ the energy levels were a little more reserved but still had the heavy drum beats, the snappy guitar chords and often reminded me of music found in a coming-of-age 00s film.

Whilst I can appreciate the production values and time spent on this project, the similarities throughout the middle of the album led to it almost blending together, with nothing particularly noteworthy jumping out.

‘Nothing To Say’ stood out for me a little more than the first few, due to how the bridge was complimented by a more melodic sound as opposed to constant guitar licks.

I truly felt the evolution of the band’s sound in the final two tracks of the record, ‘White Shores’ and ‘I Want To Disappear’, in which they stepped away from the typical pop punk sound and dove into the melodies of an acoustic guitar. The growth was evident throughout these tracks, with softer vocals giving way to showcasing each of their own personal struggles and what inspires the way they write and produce.

Overall I feel sorry to say that I was expecting more from The Story So Far, with such a large gap between projects and real time for life to happen, I hoped for a new perspective from them but felt a lack of variation captured most of my attention. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it at all, because the lyricism really gripped me throughout my time with this album, I’m just hoping that the last couple of tracks are an insight into hopefully what is to come from this great band.