An Album from Summer Colds Breeds A Warm Pop-Rock Tone

An album release from Summer Colds just dropped and this record boasts everything from pop punk to old-school Weezer-style grunge pop rock, and plenty in between, but the way they approach it has this unique vibrancy and outstanding sonic presence, along with loads of personality. These songs have character embedded in their veins, and that is something that reaches out and grabs you.

One of my favorite aspects of the Missing Out album, aside from all that sort of colorful pop coating, is the guitar tone as a whole. The guitars have such a great balance in how they sound. That balance exists somewhere between garage punk and grunge. The tonality and distortion of how they come through on a lot of these songs fit perfectly between those two areas and give the songs an amazing sort of aesthetic.

The record starts with "Something's Coming", which begins with that great guitar and vocals. Before any of the rest of the band comes in, you already sort of get hooked on the melodies of those vocals and the chord progression of the guitars. You know that this track has a heavy-handed classic pop punk influence to it.

When I say classic pop-punk, I mean bands like the Ramones, for example.

I love how they infuse all of their heavy and punk rock influences together throughout this record so that the songs are very consistent, but can also take a different direction when they want to.

Sounds like "The Moon" gives off those classic Weezer vibes, but they also bring a little bit of a fuzz-toned edginess along with that. There's a great progression, and the whole thing is very melodically pushed. I love how all of these songs, again, have that pop overcoat, so there's always a hook coming from those vocals that sit perfectly atop a great chord progression and this sort of thick butt slightly shimmering rock backdrop.

One of the other things that really hits about this record is its energy. These guys have such a unique energy on the record. It almost feels like they recorded a lot of it live on the floor, and everyone involved was just feeding off of each other the entire time.

Of course, I wasn't there, so I'm not sure how they did it, but listening to this record makes you want to go see them perform the whole thing live.

This is mainly because they're able to capture this great energy and aesthetic on the album itself so well that you know seeing them live must be really big.

Having said that, I do know that the whole project is helmed by Nic McNamara, who writes and records a lot of it. I'm not sure if he does all of that himself or if he brought in others to do it with him.

Now, some songs hit a little harder or feel a little bit heavier. Songs like "Shakeout" serve as a perfect example of exactly that.

It's tracks like this that make you think more of bands like The Offspring. It's got this massive bass guitar tone that really drives the song, while the drums are giving you a bit of a heavier hand, but also again, that pop approach, so songs can still bounce even when they're heavier.

This whole record puts out a particular kind of rock warmth. It's the tones, the progressions, the songwriting, the vocals, it all comes together like puzzle pieces and gives you the warm and fuzzies inside.

"Dear Life" does this for me very well. There's just something about this song that hits me in a different way. I think because the song is honest, describing how memories can come back to you in such detail, that I find myself quite attached to it.

It's strange how listening to a song about something can cause your brain to sort of do it itself. While listening to this track, I actually have memories of my own popping into my head. It's not just the lyrics alone, it's also again, that warmth that it delivers that just feels somewhat familiar and almost welcoming.

There's a lot of that going on on this record, but this song really nails that aesthetic.

This was ridiculously fun. You can tell everyone involved has a real love for their craft. And when I say that, I don't just mean playing their instruments, I mean writing songs together.

The whole album swirls with melodic hooks, colors, flavors, layers of amazing tone, and throughout it all, you have personality.

That character or personality is laced throughout the entire album, and this is part of why you get attached to it as well.

There are plenty of tracks where the lyrics can be quite descriptive, and they help paint pictures in your head while songs unfold, which is always fun.

It's outstanding how this record was able to bring together a slew of influences that Nic obviously holds dear to his heart and was able to turn something out that had meaning, heart, and a colorful but edgy rock structure that really hits damn near perfectly.

If you don't believe me, go have a listen for yourself. The only way to find out exactly what I'm talking about is by listening to the record right now.

Remember where you heard it first.

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