Hit The Lights
Summer Bones
Pure Noise Records
You would think after the hit album This Is a Stick Up…Don’t Make It A Murder circa 2003, Hit The Lights would fall off with the leaving of lead singer, Colin Ross. Enter Nick Thompson, not quite the same voice, but close. Thompson leads on the follow-up albums, Skip School, Start Fights (2008), Invicta (2012), and the newest Summer Bones there is no stopping this power pop/rock/punk band from stopping. The album sticks to their forte of being the kids who can overcome being held down, be rebellious, deal with heartbreak, and growl. The opening track, “Fucked Up Kids” is about rebelling in whatever manner “they” want to because of neglect. But the second cut, “The Real,” has a statement of maturity: “I wanna stand for something real, be honest and shed old ideals and say something of substance, be honest, and don’t live life in fear.” Through and through, anybody who wants catchy, poppy punk rock would enjoy this album and, “Step back, relax. Just breathe, don’t react. The worst thing you could ever do is let them get the best of you.”
