Necessary

The Necessary breathe refreshing pop rock into a genre being oversaturated by black hair and white studded belts. This band’s strength is good songwriting; almost each song on This Is Us is a winner. Bell-like guitar hooks decorate songs like the album’s title track, while vocal harmonies on "So it Comes To This” make it some of the more memorable since Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity album. I even sense some Coldplay similarities, with their use of dream pop guitar and vocals. "Passion” has some interesting guitar work, and closer "Free Hands” is a winning piano ballad. The Necessary is a necessary listen for fans of BurnsoutBright, Mae, or the Juliana Theory.