First Impressions is a segment where we let you into our early thoughts on a highly anticipated album, This week, we have our early views on Relient K’s Forget and Not Slow Down. It drops October 6, 2009.

Though I wouldn’t claim Relient K as one of my favorite bands of all time, I think it’s safe to say that this is the biggest release of the remaining Fall for me. I know, I know, both Brand New and Say Anything still have records to drop, but neither of those bands have had the kind of impact on me as Relient K. Coming from the light hearted pop punk world, the band has grown and evolved like no band I have ever witness before. On each album the songs get tighter, but they’ve always found ways to remind us they know where they come from. There is no abandonment of fun for maturity, but more a meshing of the two areas into one great sound that keeps you coming back again and again. On Forget and Not Slow Down we find the band once again growing and expanding their sound while tightening the song writing and musicianship more than ever before. “Candlelight” feels like a country song with a pop rock heart and is sure to when over boys and girls throughout the teens years. It’s wonderful mixtape material with classic light hearted lines of emotion that we’ve come to expect from Relient K. However, we also have this very mature, evolved sound that comes through in various parts of the record and ultimately culminate in the beautiful “(If You Want It)” before leaving us with the expectations succeeded and smiles causing creases. I don’t think it’s going to far by any means to say that with this record, Relient K have crafted their masterpiece. The balance of  moving song with fun romps is perfect with vocalist Matt Thiessen crooning his most realized lyrics to date. This album will be making top 10, heck, top 5 lists for 2009. Trust me. 

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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