You know how sometimes I decide to listen to a band because they have an interesting name? It's been working out for me very well so far. Do I have to elaborate on this?
Ok I probably should. I caught wind of the name Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! from a Nik Nocturnal video and thought it was simultaneously the funniest and coolest name in a while, so I listened to their album. Turns out, the album is a banger, but I'm not sure how much of the quality is owed to the name, my guess is 50%.
Jokes aside, it turns out this band is quite a name in the pseudo-genre known affectionately as easycore. A pop-punk and metalcore fusion style also carried by bands like A Day To Remember and New Found Glory, Chunk!'s new record is nothing less than that. Gone Are The Good Days is their first record in 6 years, and sees the band getting sentimental about life, especially with the aftermath of the pandemic.
Despite being in the same subgenre as A Day To Remember, they have quite a different and unique sound to themselves. Gone Are The Good Days features a very pop-infused yet unapologetic heaviness that oscillates between every emotion you can associate with growing up. The whole record boasts a strong and undeniable youthful energy, with roots in emo and punk rock.
Their sound is very strongly led by Bertrand's vocals, one of the most distinct voices in metalcore for me. There's something about his voice that I can't pinpoint, but hovers between being incredibly robust and emotionably capable. Throughout this record, the band never fails to bring about a sense of nostalgia with the combined effort of spectacular instrumentation, strong vocals and powerful lyrics.
Did I mention nostalgia? I did happen to find this album near my high school graduation, and it did plenty to make me sentimental. The title track was the first to make me feel things for obvious reasons, but beyond Made For More's hesitant cynicism and Painkiller's stern advice, I found a deep emotional connection to Fin., the final track. I think it just happened to encapsulate the ending of a valuable but tough journey, both lyrically and emotionally, in a way that allows gratefulness and sadness to co-exist. It gets even more personal for me as someone who spent most of my life as a performer, when the whole song is themed around it. I talked about it a lot more in its own post, but in short, it's sentiment.
Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! has a sound that I still love to this day, despite only having heard their newest record and nothing else. I've yet to dive into any of their older stuff, and the only other time I've heard Bertrand is his guest feature on LANDMVRKS' Suffocate, which is a banger by the way. I'm not sure how much to expect from them going forward, but I have plenty of their older discography to dig through, so I am far from complaining.
Rating: 9/10