This is the type of sound that takes you back. A sound which encapsulates the days of feeling rough, hungover, and youthful. Those days were glamorous to some, and to some they were torture, full of blood fuelled fights and desperate isolation. This LP from former Taking Back Sunday guitarist/vocalist Fred Mascherino, is a battle-hard, lyrical, experimental stab at rock. Musically, it sounds fresh and driven, and the stories here are sincere and slightly unnerving. They’re the kind of stories that highlight growing up with a broken heart in a room full of broken hearts.

The sound takes us on a journey of self-reflection. All of us are feeling the downsides of life. We feel the void pulling us in with extraordinary strength, and sometimes we feel helpless. The Color Fred epitomises these feelings and more, and the band tells us through their sudden shift in sound and their lyrical contributions that they’re on the brink. This isn’t to say the band is ready to follow the road to ruin, they’re just simply putting their feelings across.

A Year And Change is a melancholic, pessimistic, LP. It does what it sets out to do, and that’s telling heart-splitting stories and to showcase boundless riffs. The music isn’t a simple play on chords, as these musicians have worked on creating technical guitar parts. Technicalities aren’t important really, but this band wants to serve up complexity and complete experiences.

There are fourteen songs here and there isn’t a let up in quality. Never Wanted starts with a bang. The guitars are tuned; the vocals are supreme, and the story binds heart and soul. Again, we hear a pessimistic take on life. Attention sparks fury and that riff’s compelling. The chorus increases the tension. The Train Is Leaving is one of those songs you hear on the radio when the pain is unrelenting. It’s a sad song, one that spearheads this band’s mentality. Future Past details woes and a feeling of dread. The acoustic sound complements the sorrow.

The Color Fred has taken a sound which took the early 2000s by storm and has elevated it. And this record is their channelled aggression.

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