The Starting Line emerged at the beginning of the new millennium with a sharply refined pop-punk sound, and catchy songwriting that immediately gave them a fanbase with 2002’s Say It Like You Mean It. This was, of course, way before the Taylor Swift name drop , but it’s not surprising why The Starting Line was a formative band for Taylor Swift (and plenty of musicians who started their own pop-punk bands).
Teaming up with producer Howard Benson yet again, the band’s third full-length Direction was released on July 31st, 2007. It’s to date the last full-length that The Starting Line have released (though they’re working on a new one now!) but it’s equal parts mature and familiar. Lead single “Island (Float Away)” is actually the band’s only single to reach a Billboard chart, and it truly has that “stuck in your head” quality and chorus that all great songs of the genre strive for. If you can believe it, vocalist/bassist Kenny Vasoli was still barely in his 20s when this album dropped – but the growth in terms of lyrics and vocal skills are evident across the board.
Thankfully, this isn’t an album that has one dimension, either. Notable song “Something Left to Give” dials it back a bit, with a self-reflective tone that references the maturity undergone by The Starting Line in the two years since Based On A True Story was released. While perhaps falling short of classic status, Direction still has plenty of standout songs – and it’s easy to see why they’ve had such an influence on pop-punk bands of the current era.
