Hayley Williams-approved math-rock faves Pool Kids dive into the melodic deep end and come up gold on third album, Easier Said Than Done.
Betting on yourself, as the title of Pool Kids’ third album suggests, is easier said than done. As is, for that matter, decamping nearly 3,000 miles from home to sofa surf and sleep on studio floors in order to record your boldest record yet on a shoestring budget. Yet that’s exactly what these Hayley Williams-tipped math rockers have done, and the results are brilliant and frequently surprising.
For starters, the electronically-treated vocals and hazy guitars that open the title track are a world away from the fidgeting math-rock of signature tune $5 Subtweet, yet they spring from the same well of confusion and self doubt. Guitar stabs and simmering beats collide with Christine Goodwyne’s soothing and catchy vocal melodies, with the fretboard gymnastics saved for a flutter of skipping strings that drives the song’s climactic anxiety spiral.
The Tallahassee group’s newly overt pop sensibilities are also felt on the bouncing pop-punk of Not Too Late and the gleaming synths on Which Is Worse?, yet retain the same angular songwriting of their emo roots. That’s helped partly by Goodwyne’s razor sharp lyrics as she unpacks her OCD on the title track, or self-destructive habits through the comedown of Sorry Not Sorry: ‘It’s not my fault I’m at my best when I’m six shots deep / Better lover, better friend, you can take it from me, but you’re that way, too’. It means even at their most pop on the breezy Leona Street, Pool Kids’ misfit sense of melody and humour keep their edge as Goodwyne imagines an estranged friend witnessing her new fitness kick: ‘You’d spit our your drink, laugh to yourself and think, “Oh, we’ll see how long this lasts”’
The song’s tale of showing up as a changed person around old haunts is a fitting metaphor for how Pool Kids have grown. They’re still the same fiercely independent band that can run rings around an oddball time signature, just now they’re trusting their chemistry and melodic instincts to take them in any direction they wish – and the results kick ass. If you’re new to Pool Kids, now is the time to dive in headfirst.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: American Football, PUP, Mannequin Pussy
Easier Said Than Done is released on August 15 via Epitaph
