Album Review: Fireworks- Gospel (2011)

Developing and maturing as a band can be really, really tricky: on the one hand, you have bands like A Day to Remember, who seem to be on the cusp of abandoning their genericore breakdowns and accepting their destiny as the next great radio-rock band, but on the other, you have bands like Green Day and Against Me! who lose their creative flame and create albums that their fans can't even recognize as the same band they fell in love with many moons ago. Meanwhile, in the sweaty church basements and legion halls of America, Fireworks have been building their reputations as the next great five-piece pop-punk band, leading the charge for their pals (The Wonder Years and Man Overboard, to name just two) into a new pop-punk revolution. With the new, almost indie-leaning Gospel, their second full-length album, the band seem to be maturing immensely, but is it for the better?


From the first time vocalist David Mackinder delivers the monster chorus of leadoff track "Arrows" in his now signature nasally delivery (think a deeper version of New Found Glory's Jordan Pundik), Gospel seems destined to be one of the best albums of this summer, and likely the rest of the year as well. The elements that drew so many fans toward Fireworks on their debut All I Have to Offer is My Own Confusion are still perfectly intact, but the band chose not to stay in the same frame of mind on Gospel, choosing instead to push themselves to things they haven't tried before: there are times where the band build upon Confusion's momentum, specifically the hometown anthem "Detroit," seen on "Arrows," "I was Born in the Dark" and a personal favorite of mine "Oh, Why Can't We Start Old and Get Younger." However, its the times where Fireworks decide to quiet things down a bit, and that is where Gospel begins to fully show the potential Fireworks have to distinguish themselves as one of the best up-and-coming pop-punk acts today. "Teeth" is the closest you'll get to a love song from the band, with a chorus that recalls anybody's first crush, and the awkward ways we communicate those crushes. "I Locked My Time Capsule" gives the band's collective outlook on life, with a chorus fit for a live setting: "Just do what you can/to do what you love." Though much of the album is decidedly faster, these two songs do wonders to slow down the album, giving the listener ample time to soak in how far Fireworks are coming, and how far they have the potential to go.

Gospel contains twelve songs, clocking in at about 35 minutes runtime, and each song brings its own big-time moments and lyrics that allow each track to stand on its own, giving this album the opportunity to be hotly debated over which song is best. Fans who pledge their allegiance to Confusion will likely find songs like "Arrows" or "I was Born in the Dark" to best suit their ears, while others will see "Teeth" and "Summer" as signs of progression and nostalgic looks back to their first loves, while those on the fence between the two will see songs like "The Wild Bunch" and "Oh, Why Can't We Start Old and Get Younger" as the perfect meeting point of new and old Fireworks, and the fact that I can name all of these songs without even mentioning how good "We're Still Pioneers" is, you should draw the conclusion that Gospel is one of the strongest albums of the year, bar none.

Gospel is, for lack of a better, more mature phrase, a kick in the balls of pop-punk. While Mayday Parade and All Time Low continue to space themselves from the genre's best qualities, Fireworks have kept them all in their arsenal, building upon many of them to build off of the name they made for themselves on Confusion and the Bonfires EP,  while not allowing their newfound maturity to lead them too far from what made them so great in the first place. The pop-punk world is on its way back to the top, and Gospel is another step in the right direction for both Fireworks and the genre as a whole.

The Bottom Line: Whether you've been a fan of Fireworks from the start, heard of them and never got around to giving them a listen, or never heard of them at all, Gospel should be at the top of your list of albums to purchase this summer. Chances are, you'll be blasting it in your car all year if you do. Make no mistake: the bar has been set for the rest of the albums slated for release this year.

Recommended if You Rock: New Found Glory's Sticks and Stones, The Audition's Great Danger, Amber Pacific's The Possibility and the Promise