In the time since their major label breakthrough, it is safe to say that Relient K has evolved from their earlier punk-based days by slowly changing their sound. 2007’s “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” saw the raw emotion of their songs drown in a giant wave of post-production and chewy, radio-friendly mixes. For the latest installment from the band, “Forget and Not Slow Down,” an independently-produced effort, some of that that rawness has returned.
Vocalist and principal songwriter Matt Thiessen, following a difficult break-up, found solace in isolation while writing and tracking this record, and it shows. Secluding himself at a lake house in Tennessee for three months, Thiessen penned his thoughts, while keeping in communication with his bandmates – the only connection he made to the outside world.
The result is one of the most honest Relient K records to date. The title track opens the opus with a burst of sound as electric guitars triumphantly welcome the listener to a new start, a new record and a new era for the band. Lyrically, the song is a summary of the entire record, with the lines “I’d rather forget and now slow down/gather regret for the things I can’t change now/If I become what I can’t accept/Resurrect the saint from within the wretch.” Thiessen’s versatile vocals are prominently displayed here, urging listeners to forget the past and not let it get them down.
The following track, “I Don’t Need a Soul,” boasts the classic Relient K sound, from the tinkling opening piano riffs to the solid chorus, which, although it doesn’t quite reach its full fruition, is solid nonetheless. “Candlelight” sounds like it could have fit perfectly with their “Bird and the Bee Sides” album, featuring a soft pop sound that the band experimented with extensively. The song is one of the highlights on the album and will draw listeners in with its infectious hooks and clever lyricism.
“Part of It” sounds like a retread of “Forget and Not Slow Down,” and sounds nearly identical musically. The lead single off the album, “Therapy,” sounds like many Relient K tracks that have already been done to death, but is still catchy and exciting enough for most fans to forgive it for being so repetitious.
“Over It” is a mid-tempo song with a peppy feel, which masks the dreary mood of its lyrics. “Over it, I’m finding out I’m just over it… No I don’t know what’s over just yet/But I won’t go slow/And time can let the mind forget,” sings Thiessen. It is a rather desolate outlook that is masked by the optimism that Relient K’s music always seems to conjure up in the listener’s mind.
“Sahara” is one of the album’s harder songs and sees Thiessen’s vocals approach a near-growl. Initially, it’s hard to take such vocals seriously, considering the singer’s tendencies towards a semi-croon, but one forgets this after listening carefully to the imagery to be found in the lyrics. “A lion on his side was it the lying or his pride which brought him down?/Once the king of beasts, but now they feast on the thoughts beneath his vacant crown.” The track again features a rather depressing lyrical bent, masked tastefully by upbeat guitar hooks, and the guest appearance of Aaron Gillepsie of The Almost and Underoath.
Relient K follows the hard-charging tune with the Beach Boys-influenced “Oasis” interlude and the cheery “Savannah.” Bouncy instrumentation and stand-out, cheerful subject matter set these songs apart from the rest of the record.
The album closes rather weakly, although one can appreciate the Pinkerton-era Weezer parallels in the interlude song, “Baby.” Appropriately though, the band finishes with the two-hit combo “This Is the End” and “(If You Want It),” charging hard into the sunset with the hope and optimism that is uniquely Relient K.
