February 18th, 2011 
James Shotwell Artist: Storyboard
Album: Tear This Down
Genre: Easycore
Label: Hang Tight
Storyboard seem to have found a new way to describe the perennial good vibes that permeate pop-punk music: easycore. Easy listening, good times galore, and happy dudes with plaid, hats, and beards. Pop-punk doesn’t always float my boat, personally, but that’s more due to my constant need for melodrama as opposed to any lack of quality in the protagonists. It is with pride that I can declare my countrymen – Storyboard also hail from Ireland – a charming and endearing package that will surely find a healthy following amongst the happy-go-lucky fanbase.
This EP is a very straightforward, clearly packaged presentation – it has the hooks, synched vocals, and hearty lead singer stuff down to a tee. It even comes with a nice shot of a child in Buzz Lightyear gear on the cover, just in case you thought you were in for anything other than a good time. After a brief intro set to an uneven riff and hidden genial chanting, the EP sets to work in “High Horse.” It exudes all the elements necessary to get a lively response – steady tempo, soaring vocal line, gang back-up. It’s nothing exceptional and indeed, all this stuff does tend to sound the same but neither can it really be faulted. There’s clearly conviction here and it does what it sets out to do quite well.
“Real Life” continues this relatively banal course, using the standard sporadic shifts in gear and tempo alongside random riffage and persistent harmonizing to make its straining point. The percussion marches to its own beat in the background and all comes to a heady climax about three-quarters through with a split second pause, almost in the vein of A Day To Remember, though the ensuing conclusion has none of the latter’s fire or fusion. I’m sure that sounds mad but honestly, it’s all grand. It’s just a bit similar. There’s a recipe for this stuff, and it’s served sunny side up.
There’s an obligatory trip down sentimental lane with “Counting Stars,” a peeled-back, acoustic meditation on melancholy, the one pause for thought in an otherwise bouncing release. It interrupts the momentum somewhat but fits somehow, finding its place in the shadow of the PMA. “The Fight” vanquishes the aftertaste by opening on a sparky riff and concerted vocal lines, powering its way through passion and meaningful to infuse life into the record once again. It’s an engaging and entertaining song, topped off with breezy solos. Disaster is much the same – all potency and mild attitude but again wrought with fun and humour. Musically, it doesn’t stray too far from the foregoing, the solo guitar again adding much of the flair and brightness, and everything ends on a solid note.
Animated and earnest, Tear This Down is grand. It’s perfectly grand. The problem is it’s only grand – it’s also formulaic, and colourless. It suffers from the fundamental lack of arsedness that seems to afflict most music of this type and that makes it likable, but forgettable. Mind, that often wins said music a loyal and loving audience. Sometimes, fecklessness can yield highly promising results. So while this, personally, doesn’t do much for me, I can see potential, and I know many who’d come away smiling. The challenge then will be to see if they can take this promise and move it beyond the obvious in the future, because while laid-back swagger has its charms, it needs a kick up the arse every now and then too.
Rating: 6/10
Review written by: Grace Duffy
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