ALBUM REVIEW – “There’s Nothing Wrong With Me” by Major League

Early 2000’s post hardcore is NOT dead! There’s Nothing Wrong With Me is a raunchy slice of “super serious” pop punk” with edgy icing, a pool full of hooks with dark brooding vocals mixed in, it’s….it’s a lot of metaphors. This album is up there with The Greatest Generation as a hallmark of what “serious” pop punk is capable of, something that stirs up feelings AND crowd involvement. And there is zero sense of Major League switching between trying to be a tumblr-core band and trying to just be another Man O, Nothing Wrong screams confidence and finely honed musicianship.

The opening of Wallflower and how it goes from a posi intro straight into that bouncy-yet-twisted first verse. The way Just As I Am just chills without ever launching into anything heavy or bombastic, there’s so much tension that is never released, like an interlude that isn’t, and it’s so AWESOME. The grungy Little Eyes that also has that super sweet delay guitar line under the second verse. The second half of the into to Devil’s Advocate and how freaking HEAVY it is (and how it’s reprised through the song). So many standout instances, so many moments of “woahhhhhhh”.

The best part is how well everything just fits so well together, the songs are as tight as they come. There is no sense of flash or cliche’ at all. The songs don’t melt together or fade into the background. If Hard Feelings was just a solid pop punk record, Nothing Wrong is the sign of band taking leaps and bounds toward being individual and grow into a sound of their own. Yeah mixing sappy “troo” grunge and posi jumps is all the rage these days, but Major League manage to keep their own spin on things, probably with aloof one liners like “You can never really hate me, the way that I do lately”.

The band show break out poignant tracks like Rittenhouse (a straight up throwback to their old sound and one of the best album closers of the genre, ever), get Senses Fail on us with songs like Graves. Never mind Pillow Talk and how very very very They’re Only Chasing Safety it is. Nothing Wrong straight rips out its songs, pulling no punches on anyone involved. This is what Balance and Composure wishes they could do with the “post grunge” sound. The key is diversity and lots and lots of energy.

One of the best records of 2014, and perfect from start to finish, There’s Nothing Wrong With Me is Major League’s ticket to getting noticed. The amount of growth is unreal and how much it stands apart from peers is unprecedented. Pick it up immediately.

9.5/10

Max Robison