Friday Night Lites
Wherever You May Be
Available NOW!
There's no easy way to review this album. Having grown extremely close with with the guys in Friday Night Lites over the past 18+ months I've seen them during the good and bad times; ultimately capped off by their first legitimate tour over this summer with Save the Lost Boys and Abandoned By Bears both of whom are signed to Victory Records.
After having the release date pushed back multiple times we finally have it. "Wherever You May Be" is the culmination of long nights in the practice space, thousands and thousands of miles on the road, nights sleeping on the van or on a strangers floor, and going days without showering, and it's better than I could have ever hoped for.
Each song tells a story, yes, even "Bases Loaded" when frontman Joey Genovese sings of waking up on the bleachers of a ballfield he's never seen before (it's quite the story).
'Wherever You May Be' is filled with classic pop-punk chords and riffs as well as handfuls of chords and riffs from the newly emerging 'easy-core' genre, most notably their fan-favorite We've Got Something For Ya.
The band slows things down a bit with The Blind Side in which Joey sings about a mother losing her son before he turned 30. An emotional gut-punch for sure, keep your tissues handy when listening to this one.
The emerging favorite on this album though is a future party anthem Pretty Girl Gets the Square. This song has everything a pop-punk fan could want and more. Fan involvement at live shows hits a peak when the band reaches that "whoa" that all great punk anthems have.
Overall this is a fantastic album and one that I've had on repeat since it fell into my hands. I've been saying it since I met these guys as a celebrity guest judge at a Battle of the Bands - I see nothing but big things for Friday Night Lites. A spot on the Ernie Ball Stage at the Mansfield, MA date of Warped Tour in 2015 and a tour that hit cities like Philly, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago are only the start. Congratulations on the EP, guys. It's fantastic.
