Artist: A Skylit Drive
Song: XO Skeleton
Album: Identity On Fire
Label: Fearless

Two years since the release of Adelphia, A Skylit Drive have returned with their unique take on the world of post-hardcore. The only problem? “XO Skeleton,” the first song to be released from their highly anticipated third album, Identity On Fire, sounds exactly like everything we’ve heard from this scene for the past decade (or more).

I’ll be the first to admit, it took me awhile to love A Skylit Drive. While their first full length played like a collection of “what’s hot” in the scene style wise, Adelphia was, to me, a fully realized and unique piece of work. They had gone from the band that sounded like everyone else, to the band everyone wanted to sound like, but couldn’t. So when I heard the group were returning, my hopes were high, momentarily.

After giving in and clicking “like” on their official Facebook (the stupidest marketing ploy ever by the way – how can they be fans if they have to “like” before they listen?), I my hopes for Identity quickly began to sink. The band who made such strides towards separating themselves from the pack over the last few years, have done a 180 and returned to their old ways (or should I say everyone else’s old ways). “XO Skeleton,” a song meant to introduce us to the latest evolution of the group, plays on the same sing/scream/repeat style as everything we’ve heard before, only this time we have the extra (equally overused) dubstep break to distract us from more than run of the mill lyrics. I mean really, how many songs can you write about perfection being a lie, wanting more, calling people out, and other people being ghosts? At least they fit it all in one track, so maybe the rest won’t be so run-of-the-mill.

It’s not all bleak however, there is one redeeming aspect to the song and that’s the vocal performance from Michael “Jag” Jagmin. Just like his evolution from Wires to Adelphia, Jag continues to show vast improvement from his once ultra-squeaky days. Unfortunately, this one positive aspect isn’t enough to overlook the many, many flaws in “XO Skeleton” and before you know it, any joy found in Jag’s performance will be washed away by the endless avalanche of mediocrity that surrounds him. Let’s hope for his sake, and the sake of Skylit Drive fan’s everywhere, this is the last time we’ll be given something this mundane.

Score: 5/10
Review written by: James Shotwell

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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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