Ever since their debut last year, EPEX and I have had the most bipolar (ironic considering the name of their debut album) of relationships. I absolutely despised debut effort Lock Down but came to adore comeback single Do 4 Me. They were effectively on two sides of the scale, one at the very bottom and one near the top. And naturally, as the eternal optimist, I had hoped that the group would continue down the brighter, melodic route of their sophomore effort rather than retread to the noise music of their debut. Unfortunately, new single Anthem Of Teen Spirit does the exact opposite.
If you’ve been keeping up with the boy group landscape recently, you probably already know what Anthem Of Teen Spirit sounds like. It’s loud, obnoxious, and hinges on an a nonsensical hook that literally makes no sense. It’s the direction I didn’t want EPEX to go back to but here we are I guess. It’s a mile a minute shout-a-thon, anchored by an awful chorus that is just noise for the sake of noise. The “Bram Bram Bram” hook however, is the surprising highlight within an otherwise irritating brew, supplying a real level of bombast that actually works (also reminds me of SF9’s RPM abit).
And following on from that, there are many other small moments within this otherwise unpleasant track that actually stand out. The searing electric guitar that helps introduce the track is a treat and would have lent very well to the rest of the track had it been used more liberally. In fact, the entire production is full of interesting sounds that are drowned out by the by the numbers hi-hat infused percussion that plagues so many other boy group tracks. This comes to a head during Anthem of Teen Spirits dynamic bridge, where the tempo picks up and causes the track to really come alive for a few seconds. But in the end, I’m not grading the track on its potential, but rather the final product. And unfortunately, Anthem Of Teen Spirit‘s disparate nature just doesn’t allow for a satisfying listen.
*Also, I’ll Go First is a very nice song
Verses: 6
Chorus: 6
Production: 7
Performance: 7
Final Rating: 6.5 / 10
KBopped 