July 25th, 2008 
James Shotwell 
Band: There For Tomorrow
Album: There for Tomorrow
Genre: Pop Rock
Label: Hopeless
Tracks:
1. Deadlines
2. Pages
3. Waiting
4. Remember When
5. No More Room To Breathe
6. Addiction and Her Name
Last year, Hopeless Records got a breath of fresh air and some hefty coin with the release of the now mega selling, So Wrong It’s Right from All Time Low. The album brought a lot of attention to the aging label that has also brought us some timeless records from Thrice and Avenged Sevenfold and gave the crown for home of pop rock/punk to them to wear with pleasure and glee. This year, Hopeless bring us their next toss of the dice into this genre in the form of There For Tomorrow and while it’s not as strong as ATL, Hopeless may be close to striking gold once again. These clean cut boys bring a rock mentality to a pop sense of song writing for a mixed bag of results that’s definitely refreshing if not the sweetest thing we’ve heard in awhile. As with ATL, Hopeless moved to introduce the band with an EP and this self titled work is available now, but the real question is if it’s worth the money; well, that might take a bit of decision making.
“Deadlines,” takes the lead step on the disc, blasting from the speakers with a big of light guitar work for the drums come in to set your heart beat in sync with the music before the whole band comes in with an engaging riff to let you know there’s something here you need to hear. The real selling point of the track comes with the instantly catchy chorus and some gorgeous harmony work that sucks you into the world of There for Tomorrow and tells you you haven’t heard anything quite yet. To confirm the previous statement we are introduced to, “Pages,” the second track with a similar fade in from the first track [a bit less than amusing] and then quick,choppy guitar work with layered acoustic chords that takes their atmosphere to a rarely found area for a debut act. The song itself is straight rock driven with catchy riffs and guitar work that shows progress beyond their age, yet it sounds pretty simple once the chorus hits. The lyrics and ideas behind them are sort of unique, but I kept thinking I could more than likely find 5 songs I could sing along to the chorus and that just sucked all the interest out of the track. I want something I’ve never heard before, not their version of a proven song structure.
The arch of the disc, “Waiting,” and, “Remember When,” show us a few different angles of the group. For starters, we have the heavier tones of, “Waiting,” which are likely to make any audience move around and when matched with vocals from Maika and you are back into the world of There for Tomorrow once again. The sheer scale of the song is epic for any band, with a crescendo that pushes all levels to the max and then fades into obscurity leaving you with a sense of, “whoa.” that expression of awe is then taken back with the by the numbers, “Remember When,” which seems to force emotion out lyrically, but musically plays gorgeously. Some bands can’t write lyrics as engaging as music and I’m starting to think that may be There For Tomorrow as I could rarely care to focus on what was being sung because their music is really driving as well designed. There should be something said for production as well because it’s almost over the top at times, but only in the best possible way. This track takes us to the lead single, “No More room To Breathe,” which showcases all the best talents of the band and stands out more than slightly as the obvious choice for single. For starters, it’s the most speed consistent track on the disc [faster, driving] and the chorus is the most simplistic and thus catchy on the whole album. This isn’t saying it’s bad because the track is phenomenal and caused my initial interest, but I hate when you can tell the single on the disc when listening to the band’s album as a whole. It just seems like the band knew this was the best they could do and then settled on the rest of the tracks to some extent, which I cannot stand.
For the closing song, “Taking Chances,” the band greets us with a more than somber tone using a lot of feedback and distortion along with pulsing rums to take you to a darker place. The care free sounds of earlier songs are quickly lost in the all encompassing world of sound which shows the band being very mature and engaging on a level most bands of their genre might now ever achieve. This is not a single type song, but rather the kind of track the tells you the band is more than a flash in the pan. I, personally, think this stands out as the best the band has done thus far. Sure the single was engaging, but this is the song that will outlast the rest and for this to be a closing number, it’s perfect.
With this roll of the dice, Hopeless was hoping to keep their crown as the new kings in the pop rock world and the result is a questionable election to say the least. While There For Tomorrow possess the capacity to be a huge name in the music worked, this ep finds the band struggling to balance where they are lyrically with their advanced stage of musical progression and that causes some faults and roughness that is hard to ignore. I do, however, believe that by the time this band gets to a full length, given they don’t use the same songs here, they could really take a big bid at the next big band to bust out in this scene. For now, they’re going to have to make their name on the road and that’s something they’ve been doing for years. So keep your eyes out, these boys may just be going somewhere yet.
*Written By: James Shotwell*
GRADE: 6/10
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