Artist: Man Overboard
Album: The Human Highlight Reel
Genre: Pop Punk
Label: Rise

My birthday is next week, I’m about to turn 22 years old, which means several unimportant things; the charm of not having to hide my beer has worn off, I arbitrarily feel quite old and unaccomplished, and most importantly, it means that I grew up during the theoretical golden age of pop punk and it’s variants, around the time I was about 15 or so – prime music-taste-development age, mind you – I grew up on the legends like Saves The Day, Alkaline Trio, Brand New, The Get Up Kids, and so on; I’ll stop there, because I could continue all day if allowed. And while many years have passed since I was that young, and my musical tastes have evolved a fair amount from that point, the favorites will always stick with me, regardless of how old I get. Every year, with the first signs of spring, I very ceremoniously break out Tell All Your Friends and Deja Entendu. So I would like to think that my age, and the state of the music scene during my more impressionable years qualifies me as somewhat of an authority on the topic of good pop-punk. A rather pretentious and jaded one at that. I scoff at nearly all current bands that call themselves a pop-punk band, I ramble on about the good ol’ days and how, in my day, it took more than just some palm-muted power chords and skinny jeans to be a good pop punk band.

So when tackling the new Man Overboard album, The Human Highlight Reel” where was I supposed to begin? How would I cover this without simply going off on the current generation of music fans, and commenting on how things weren’t like they used to be? Of course, first of all, I should mention, that this isn’t exactly a “new” Man Overboard album, per se, it features a few new songs, but it’s mostly b-sides, re-releases, and a cover. So while the album contains some depth on it’s own, it’s really more than that, it’s a retrospective of the band, this album represents Man Overboard as a band, more than the album individually, which of course, carries even more magnitude and importance. So that put me in a very sensitive situation, which is a shame, because I’m predisposed to being a grumpy old man, but at the same time, I want to maintain a modicum of impartiality. So here it goes. Well, the first thing that caught my attention about the album were the songs “Red Paint”; a Promise Ring cover, and “Dear You”; a rather blatant Jawbreaker reference, and both these songs were, quite frankly, the best start the album could have possibly gotten off to. If they took the time to acknowledge Jawbreaker and The Promise Ring, then they were worth a fair listen. And I sure am glad I did, this was an extremely thorough and impressive retrospective of the band that is sure to not only please old fans of Man Overboard, but to give new fans an excellent introduction to the band. The jaded emo-kid within me says that “Red Paint” is certainly a stand-out track, but tracks for the more open-minded among you all include addictive gang-vocals in “Love Your Friends Die Laughing”, and the two new tracks, “Driveway” and “Melanie, Video Games, and a Slight Fear of Flying” not only act as a sneak peak of the progression of the band, but are very good songs in their own right.

I’m fairly open-minded about most music that I listen to, but when it comes to pop-punk, I’m very discerning, and this band has broken through my jaded exterior, and has earned my rare seal of approval for pop punk albums. The Human Highlight Reel may not earn the legendary status of albums like The Get Up Kid’s Something To Write Home About, if only due to the timing within the ever changing music scene, but it is certainly very impressive, and contains a degree of originality that seems to be so limited in this genre. With this new album, it’s safe to say that Man Overboard have more than earned their place among the new wave of pop-punk revolutionaries. They may never earn the notoriety that their past contemporaries have reached over the years, but that does not make them any less deserving. But of course, we’ll have to wait and see, with their all-new album, due out this summer.

Score: 9/10
Review written by: Michael Hogan

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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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