For Fans Of: 5 Seconds Of Summer, Fall Out Boy, and Twenty One Pilots

I hate waiting. I am a very impatient person, and I hate waiting for something that might not live up to my expectations. For the past 3 months, I have been waiting for Waterparks debut album, Double Dare. After months of waiting and hoping I would enjoy this album, I can happily say that this might be my favorite album of 2016.

Waterparks is a band from Houston, Texas. The 3 members, Awsten Knight, Otto Wood, and Geoff Wigington make up the futuristic pop-punk trio. Even though they have been producing music as a band since 2011, they only signed to Equal Vision Records last year. With 3 EP’s under their belt, Waterparks first full length album does not disappoint.

This band has been supported by Good Charlotte, Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy, and Mikey Way from My Chemical Romance. In case you can’t tell, many musicians believe that they are extremely talented and want them to succeed. This album was produced by Courtney Ballard and Benji Madden, who have both produced for 5 Seconds Of Summer. While their sound may be slightly similar to 5 Seconds of Summer, they bring so much more to the table than the stereotypical love song. Instead, they produce honest lyrics with punk instrumentals. This gives them the catchiness of a pop song while also having a sound different from any other band.

The blend of electronic and pop-punk encompasses several different genres on the album. Some songs are radio-friendly love songs, while others are pop-punk songs filled with angst. “Stupid for You”  is a catchy song with witty lyrics that you just can’t help but sing along to. Other songs like “Royal” and “Gloom Boys” stand out as the happy sounding songs with raw emotional lyrics. This full album provides a constant variety of different sounding songs, with no two sounding alike. The strong rhythmic section of guitar and drums is present on many of the songs, and create a blend of pop-rock goodness.

With Knight’s strong songwriting capabilities, every single chorus will be drilled into your head for the rest of the day, if not the rest of the week. Every song is extremely catchy. But while there may be catchy choruses, the songs are not obnoxious. The clever lyrics are different from the everyday songs on the radio, and are very thought out. The album contains constant references to the band’s past, including old song titles, EP names, and tidbits about their history and struggle of being a local band. The combination of the amazing lyrics and crisp sounding tracks produce an exceptional debut album.

While I find most songs to be extremely enjoyable, for some reason there is one song that just didn’t click for me. I find “Take Her To The Moon” to be a little underwhelming compared to the rest of the album. Quite frankly, I do not see how this song’s rhythm and lyrics are different from every other song that is played when a teenage girl walks into Hollister. This one song aside, I do believe every other song on the album is extremely well done. After all, it is an extremely difficult task to produce an album where every single song is enjoyed by every single listener.

Double Dare is a great first step for Waterparks as they continue to establish themselves as a band. Waterparks have produced a very solid album, which is a challenging task for debuts. Even though I do hate waiting, after hearing this great album, I will anxiously anticipate their next.