Heartsounds

Though it feels like Heartsounds came rushing back to release their sophomore effort, after their debut, Until We Surrender, was re-released by Epitaph only a year ago, the San Francisco, CA duo of Laura Nichol (guitars/vocals) and Ben Murray (guitars/vocals) had actually already self-released it a year prior. On Drifter, they've rounded out into a full-time four-piece (with Trey Derbes on drums and Kyle Camarillo on bass) and together they expel a ton of pent-up creative energy into an explosive, airtight set of their deliriously heartening pop punk. But now it's a little more difficult and heavier on the metal-influenced riffs, as heard squawking playfully in the Nichol-owned "Don't Talk With Your Mouth Open." Drifter is a little darker, both musically and lyrically, with songs like "You Are Not Your Body" and "Nothing Happens for A Reason" separating body from self in a manner that's not as celebratory as subjects tackled in the past, but are no less honourable and certainly no less passionate.