Music Monday is a new opinion column that discusses new releases. In this edition, Will discusses Go Radio’s newest album Lucky Street, which is scheduled to be released on March 1st.
Album art for Go Radio's next album.
As a fan of Mayday Parade’s hit-album A Lesson in Romantics, it would seem only natural for me to also love Go Radio, a band created by former MP member Jason Lancaster. Go Radio’s first EP (Do Overs and Second Chances) sounded like an extension of the musical vibes found in Lancaster’s last album with Mayday Parade (in a good way). Do Overs and Second Chances seems to contain all of the right musical elements that Mayday Parade lost with their most recent album, Anywhere But Here. Whether or not Lancaster’s departure from Mayday Parade affected them so negatively that they effectively lost their mojo is debatable, but his ability to bring the same energy to Go Radio is unquestionable.
However, after listening to a few of singles from Go Radio’s next album Lucky Street (coming soon on March 1st), I feel that Lancaster is trying to lead the band away from his Mayday roots. Lancaster’s vocals seem weak, and the strong, emotion-charged choruses one would expect from this album seem non-existent; his voice still sounds good though, just not very powerful. The singles “Any Other Heart” and “The Truth Is” come off as a major disappointment in comparison to songs from Do Overs and Second Chances, and suggest that the band is moving in a different direction.
I’m hoping that the rest of Lucky Street is less of a disappointment then it’s first two singles, or else I probably won’t buy it. While I can appreciate a band’s decision to move in a different direction and embrace new styles, it seems as if Go Radio is messing with an already perfect recipe. In an attempt to establish their own trademark sounds, they may be ruining what led them to success in the first place.
What do you think Mayday Parade/Go Radio fans? Let us know your opinion in the comment box below (even if you don’t like either band).
the twentyeleven project 