Broadway “Gentlemen’s Brawl” Album Review
Broadway
Misha Camacho- Vocals
Jake Garland- Drums/ Vocals
Gabriel Fernandez- Bass
Sean Connors- Guitar
review by Jacob Ray
@JRAY5280
Florida seems to be the place to be if you want to start a pop- punk band with a heavy side to your sound. Broadway, from Kissimmee, Florida is releasing their second album on June 19th via Uprising Records. The record is entitled Gentlemen’s Brawl and has 11 tracks of the aforementioned hard-edged pop-punk in the style of fellow Floridans New Found Glory, Veara and A Day To Remember (specifically ADTR’s newer stuff).
Available Now!
Track List:
Party at Sean’s House
Faster, Faster
Better Things
Vagrant Stories
I Am Not a Rockstar
There’s No Crying in Baseball
I Can’t Do This Alone
Lawyered
Medication
I’ve Got the Itis
Gentlemen’s Brawl
I’m going to start off by saying that I am not really a fan of this “heavy pop punk” thing that is going on. The whole thing is just kind of played out in my opinion. That being said, I thought that Broadway’s second album was pretty good.
When I first heard the intro to “Party at Sean’s House” I was expecting to hear some s00per bR00t4l metal vocals. But, I didn’t and that made me very happy. The song is a poppy party anthem with a very memorable and very applicable chorus (“It’s four A.M. and I’m the only one sober. My friends are dancing on the living room sofa). The song isn’t anything new or ground breaking but it’s kind of fun, and there is something to be said about songs that are genuinely fun in nature.
I wasn’t too crazy about “Faster, Faster”. At this point I became very aware of the studio effects that they used with Misha Camacho’s vocals. I understand that using lots of auto-tune type effects on vocals is really popular, and I know that kids really dig it for some reason, but I hate it and I hope the trend dies out soon…preferably tomorrow.
Broadway slows down the pace of the album a bit with “Better Things”. Instrumentally, this song isn’t really any different than any of the other songs on the album (other than in this song, there is a guitar solo) but I do really like the vocals on this song. Misha hits some of those higher, sustained notes and it really gives this song character.
“Vagrant Stories” didn’t really do much for me. The lyrics are a bit cliche (“I’ve to make it on my own”), especially for this specific genre. There is a breakdown in this song, which is actually cool because Broadway uses them sparingly, which if nothing else, shows that they are at least trying not to rip off every other band in the “heavy pop punk” genre.
Another one of the more fun songs on Gentlemen’s Brawl is “I’m Not a Rockstar”. The song pokes fun at some of the more image conscious musicians that are present in the modern pop punk and metal-core scene. I like to think that this song goes out to bands like Falling In Reverse or Black Veil Brides. Because if there is one thing that almost everyone in underground music can agree on, it’s that those bands need to GO AWAY. So, way to go at calling those guys out Broadway.
“There Is No Crying In Baseball” is another pretty catchy song, although it features lyrics that could be found on one of those stupid motivational posters in an elementary school classroom (“In life you can’t come in last place”). “I Can’t Do This Alone” is equally as cliche-uplifting, but equally as poppy and catchy. If nothing else, Broadway is really f-in poppy, which is obviously the goal for a pop punk band (forgive the slight redundancy of that statement).
“Lawyered” had a darker sound,which set it apart from anything else on the album. However, Broadway did not leave out the catchy choruses and memorable lyrics. Instrumentally, this was one of the more interesting songs on the album. There were several pretty awesome drum fills and a few guitar solos, which is something that you don’t really get a lot of in this genre.
Misha Camacho busts out the soft vocals on “Medication”. The first band that comes to mind when I hear this song is Relient K, and I’m not afraid to admit it, I kind of love that band (everyone is allowed their guilty pleasures). So in that respect I enjoyed “Medication”.
“A Gentlemen’s Brawl” closes with “I’ve Got The Itis” and the title track. “I’ve Got The Itis” is a slacker anthem which includes a line about playing Nintendo 64 games that may or may not be a tribute to the Millencolin song “Bullion”. There is a break down and then Misha Camacho describes the joys of doing nothing. He says “I’m so lazy” and that is fairly apparent because some of the lyrics on this album, specifically on this song are terribly cliche. “A Gentlemen’s Brawl” is exponentially faster than anything else on the album and, because I am an EpiFat kid until death, this is my favorite song on the album. I really hope that Broadway speeds things up on future albums because I really enjoyed those parts in this song. There is a metal-core style breakdown in this song, complete with some metal-core screaming, which is okay, I guess, because this is only one of two times on the album where this happens.
This wasn’t a bad album, overall. Besides some cliche lyrics, there are several songs on “A Gentlemen’s Brawl” that are just plain ol’ fun. Broadway does a good job of staying away of some of the trends in heavier pop punk that are tired by now, like breakdowns in every song and stupid amounts of gang vocals. They still use them, but it makes the effects of breakdowns and gang vocals more effective, and keeps the album interesting. This kind of music is not really my thing, but it is good for what it is, and if you like catchy pop punk with a little bit of a heavy side to it, go snag a copy of “Gentlemen’s Brawl” by Broadway.
About the Author
Denise Borders 41, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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