The seventh studio long-player from the emo/alt-rock veterans,
Tidal Wave
is the much anticipated follow-up to 2014's chart-topping
Happiness Is
. Written during
Taking Back Sunday
's olympic stretch of shows in support of their previous outing, the 12-track album incorporates elements of Americana into the group's signature blend of heartland punk and lighter-melting stadium rock, resulting in their most mature and diverse -- yet seamless -- set of songs to date. Built around the rousing "Fences" and the eponymous lead single, a fiery two-and-a-half-minute blast of socially and melodically charged mayhem that invokes
Bruce Springsteen
by way of
the Ramones
,
sees
pay homage to their emo roots without falling back on destructive habits. This newfound sense of peace with the world by no means yields to complacency, as evidenced by the nervy, punk-addled opener, "Death Wolf," but the band is in a far more contemplative place than a decade ago. Heartfelt and nostalgic, it's
's less sonically charged cuts like "Homecoming" and "I Felt It Too" that resonate most deeply, suggesting that while time may not heal all wounds, it can certainly lessen the pain. ~ James Christopher Monger