Too Loud Records – June 26, 2020
Perfectly generic and effectively nostalgic
Letters Never Sent, the second full length by three-piece Out in Style drips with everything that made skate-emo so popular in the early 00s. With members from Brazil & Canada and released by an Italian label, intercontinental outfit Out in Style, have managed to take all the hallmarks of Warped Tours at the turn of the millennium, driving drums, strong guitars, melodramatic lyrics and pitch perfect sing-alongs custom built for the neon shirt crowd. There is nothing groundbreaking on this album, but that is part of the charm of Out in Style, you don't need to reinvent the wheel to drive the Ferrari well.
“Save Me” starts the album with a chugging backbeat before singer/bassist Joao Xavier breaks in with poetic turns of phrase about self-loathing, uncertainty and other cliches of the scene circa 2001. That isn't a knock on the band or song, because by the time the obligatory gutteral screams and gang vocals kick in, the listener is transported back to the dusty parking lots and sunburns of the Warped Tour's heyday.
The album continues to perfectly imitate the spirit of '99, dipping its toes into scene defining genres, from the heartbroken screamo of “Time is Passing By” to the Punk Goes Acoustic lead-in of “When Night Falls” and Drive-Thru Records worthy “Away From the Station,” Out in Style may have missed the peak of their sound, but they are leading the charge of retro-post. The album proper, not including the bonus and bonus acoustic tracks, closes reminiscent of Fall Out Boy‘s melancholy pop-punk of “You Do It to Enjoy, I Do It to Die Faster” (is there anything more reminiscent of classic Fall Out Boy than an 11-word title?).
An argument can be made that there is no risk in following the tropes of fifteen years ago, but there is nothing more dangerous in music than to take a sound that has been done to death and resurrect it without breathing new life into it. Derivative in the best way possible, Letters Never Sent reminds the listener of everything that made that time and place one of the best times for those who lived it. Out in Style are the sonic equivalent of riding a bike; it may have been years since you last heard it, but once you get going its hard to deny the joy it brings.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed's musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he's self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/