Mayday Parade Is Anywhere But Here

Straight out of Tallahassee comes the biggest thing to come out of the that city since the Seminoles; Mayday Parade. Evolving out of two bands, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment, Mayday Parades quickly rose through the ranks of the Tally scene, levelled Warp Tour, and were picked up by Fearless Records in 2006. In the three years since then, the band released an EP, their debut album, toured relentlessly, became bigger than sliced bread, signed to Atlantic, lost a member and then recorded their sophomore album, Anywhere But Here.

Anything but a sophomore slump, Anywhere But Here polishes to a golden shine everything they've done to this point. Tightened with a torque wrench and with amps blasted to eleven, Mayday Parade blast their way through Anywhere But Hereas if their lives depended on it. This is a band so focused and so decidedly out to rule the world that it seems almost impossible that they could fail in their attempt. With legendary emo producer David Bendeth behind the board their chances of global domination are in good hands. If there's one thing Bendeth knows how to do, it's make an emo band sound larger than life and that's exactly what he does on Anywhere But Here. Mayday Parade sound gargantuan and so perfect on this record that one wonders if indeed the band is human.

Anywhere But Here is most definitely radio friendly and that may be because of the production involved but the soul of the record is all Mayday Parade's. These guys have a lot of heart, which I guess isn't too surprising for an emo band. Anyway, it's a bit surprising because they could have just packed it all in when founding member Jason Lancaster left the band, but they didn't and that's a testament to their desire to rock on and rule the world. With a renewed sense of dedication the band are still able to write tunes with massive soaring hooks that will make teenage girls scream their heads off. So much of Anywhere But Here is like this that it might be unsafe for continuous consumption. It's an epic emo album with hooks as tall as Everest and as catchy as ebola and you get the sense that's just how Mayday Parade like it.

While not overly original, the band have this formula down pat and are able to plug anything into the system and generate results. From the lighter (or cellphone waving) ballad of, "I Swear This Time I Mean It," to the teen anthem in the making, "Kids In Love," this is a band that clearly have learned to tap into the big song continuum. With the 'Noles ending the 2009 season unranked and Mayday Parade writing a ridiculously huge pop record, they might just be the big dog in Tallahassee now...well with the exception of the governor.