Profile – Four Year Strong (2008)
Four Year Strong consists of five Worchester natives who take pride in making a lot of not quite power pop, hardcore or punk, noise. Don’t let this difficulty defining their sound discourage you, if anything the eclectic mixture of style gives the band’s sound a nice fresh feel that sits somewhere between a Mayday Parade type vocal layering and a impressive Enter Shikari energy level. It’s not surprising then that the band have shared a stage with the likes of Hellogoodbye, Hit The Lights, Houston Calls, and Hidden In Plain View.
After forming in 2001, Four Year Strong shuffled through a number of line-up changes before settling on the current one which consists of original members, Dan O’Connor, Alan Day and Jake Massucco; along with Joe Weiss, and newest member Josh Lyford. The quintet have released a number of demos dating back to 2002, and their first full length debut, Rise Or Die Trying, was only released through I Surrender Records in September 2007. The album signals a shift in the general pop-punk genre as being merely one tried and true successful formula. It is a real combination of elements that shows off some of the band’s best attributes, going from one end of the spectrum such as the hardcore driven ‘Prepare to be digitally manipulated’, to the synth fuelled other end, such as the subtle sound on ‘Abandon ship or abandon all hope’. It’s an artfully diverse album that will continue to steadily grow on you after each listen.
Four Year Strong are widely tipped to be the breakthrough act of 2008 and with their varied sound and lively attitude, it’s a bet worth taking.
