{"id":7404,"date":"2015-09-14T13:40:32","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T13:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-better-off-milk\/"},"modified":"2015-09-14T13:40:32","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T13:40:32","slug":"album-review-better-off-milk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-better-off-milk\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Better Off \u2013 Milk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/8a68b2bf96614166d8efc05df31e2308\/tumblr_numwa2DgSr1r8no6so1_540.jpg\" width=\"250\" alt=\"Better Off - Milk\" title=\"\">In recent years, the realm of modern pop punk and punk has diversified, ushering in previous exclusive neighbouring genres such as indie and emo. Have Mercy and Forever Came Calling come to mind with the rise in this strand of punk. What has followed then is a vested demand for acts who infuse the world together. Nashville\u2019s <b>Better Off<\/b> have aligned themselves with this ilk with <i>\u2018Milk\u2019<\/i>. <\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>Listeners are led to the door with <i>\u2019Empty Handed\u2019<\/i> that unfolds with a triumphant crescendo into a full bloom. <b>Better Off<\/b> fans will gauge a departure from previous full-length, the sombre <i>&rsquo;(I Think) I&rsquo;m Leaving&rsquo;<\/i>. Vocalist and guitarist Luke Granered is direct, leaving only his conviction to squeeze through deliberating over death that he alludes to as <i>\u201cthe end.\u201d<\/i><!-- more --><\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>As humble as this Southern quartet may appear on the grounded lyrical veneer, <b>Better Off<\/b> are clearly capable of stepping out to mirror the antics of stadium arena giants on colossal tracks such as the Weezer-sardonic drone of <i>\u2019Suicide Island\u2019<\/i> and the scorching <i>\u2019You\u2019re Alright\u2019<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>The production (work of Saves The Day\u2019s Arun Bali) on <i>\u2018Milk\u2019<\/i> acts as a guide to the different regions that are hidden. The dark and light are stitched together (for the most part) excluding the alien hard-rock stomps of <i>\u2018Interlude\u2019<\/i> that unfortunately splits the record briefly.<\/p>\n<p>Fans of late 90s indie will feel a familiar kinship with early Death Cab For Cutie on tracks such as <i>\u2018Unhappy\u2019<\/i> that adopts the twang of <i>\u2018Transatlanticism.\u2019<\/i> The sustained rings of guitar support Granered with a choral wall as he scrapes the concern of existentialism stating, <i>\u201cwe all have everything but a reason for us to stay, we\u2019re beautiful but we\u2019re lonely it\u2019s such a shame.\u201d<\/i> <i>\u2018A Lesson In Loving\u2019<\/i> recreates the polarizing ambience of Jimmy Eat World\u2019s \u2018Futures\u2019 mimicking the polished finish of its big brother in the later full-band section.<\/p>\n<p>Narrative voice on <i>\u2018Milk\u2019<\/i> holds the listeners attention through the course of this thirteen-song work. Granered\u2019s voice is effortlessly acrobatic to the strained croons of <i>\u2018Mary In Chains\u2019<\/i> where he is contented to his hushed declaration suggesting, <i>\u201cWhen a newborn baby breathes its first breath he airs, is never clean but its breathing,\u201d<\/i> rounding the record off.<\/p>\n<p>On <i>\u2018Milk\u2019<\/i>, <b>Better Off<\/b> have a created vibrant record that brandishes the occasional undeniable allure of indie rock and punk.<\/p>\n<p>4\/5<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2019Milk\u2019<\/em> by <strong>Better Off<\/strong> is out now on <strong>Equal Vision Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Better Off<\/strong> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/bttroff.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>|<a href=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/bttroff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>|<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/bttroff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Aaron Akeredolu (<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/boymostlikelyto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@boymostlikelyto<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In recent years, the realm of modern pop punk and punk has diversified, ushering in previous exclusive neighbouring genres such as indie and emo. Have Mercy and Forever Came Calling come to mind with the rise in this strand of punk. What has followed then is a vested demand for acts who infuse the world [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[4743,359,4744],"class_list":["post-7404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-better-off","tag-equal-vision-records","tag-milk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Album Review: Better Off \u2013 Milk - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In recent years, the realm of modern pop punk and punk has diversified, ushering in previous exclusive neighbouring genres such as indie and emo. 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