Album Review: Firestarter – “The Time It Takes”

The New York area has been the birth place for so many bands in the scene. Bands like Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, and Bayside just to name a few. Although those are common names to those involved in the music scene, they weren’t all that way. All bands started from somewhere. Bayside with Sirens and Condolences, Taking Back Sunday with Tell all Your Friends and Thursday with Full Collapse. Now by now I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m touching so much on debut full-lengths. Tucked in the suburbs of Upstate NY, four-piece emo punk act Firestarter just released their First LP The Time it Takes and this is only the beginning.

The title track One Year Later although only an intro track speaks volumes. This LP has been a long time coming. Last year Matthew Laperche had sent me a handful of snaps with the band being in the studio and I’ve been stuck patiently waiting for the release of the album. It was a long impatient wait but I’m impressed with the finished Product.

Then you get to the second track Forgotten Yesterday and that’s where it begins. Unlike their EP’s New Beginnings and Forget the Past there’s a slight change in sound, they’ve incorporated heaver vocal parts. If you’ve ever spoken to Lead Vocals/Guitarist Matt Laperche you would know that he has the robot from Silverstein’s debut record When Broken is Easily Fixed tattooed on him so the heavy addition to their sound isn’t the least bit surprising. It’s sure to bring in their already current fan base and attract those who dabble in heavier music. Although they’ve added heavier parts to their music the band still holds true to their pop punk roots.

Throughout the album there seems to be a story being told. Although it’s all speculation as all music is up for interpretation, some lyrics seem to point to a possible breakup and or broken friendships. Such as ’Looking back on my last few years, There’s too much I have come to fear” in A light to Guide us Home and “I felt the air escape from my lungs on the day you said you were done. You were my oxygen now you’re my consequence´ in The Consequence of Breathing. The lyrics as a whole are well written but are worth actually taking the time to sit down and listen to them.

The track that stands out to me the most though is one of the shortest tracks on the album besides the intro. Nine tracks in the band drops their track titled Sleep Spent Cold and its 1:49 worth of just angst. Although it’s more of an interlude track from start to finish it struck a chord with me. It starts of just soft guitars but when the vocals kick in it overtakes that easily. As I spoke on before, I feel this album tells a story of trying times emotionally and mentally and this track hits that dead on. Just goes to show that just because a song isn’t long doesn’t mean it can’t have a punch to it. It reminds me a lot of the track Some Kind of Hope by Stick to Your Guns just to put it into perspective.

Needless to say don’t sleep on Firestarter. Go pick up The Time it takes and believe me when I say it’s an AOTY Contender alongside Stray from the Path and Counterparts. They might they’re only getting started.

For Fans off Capstan, Belmont, Sleep on It,t

Pick up The Time It Takes Here

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