Reviews

I have to admit that this is what I wish pop/rock punk still sounded like. Not like the music that's currently on the charts or beloved by pre-teen girls who like bands with boys with girl haircuts wearing girl jeans as well. From start to finish, Reflected maintain their style and don't rely on long choruses or high pitched vocalists.

Reflected sound a lot of mid-nineties punk rock; No Use for a Name is a good comparison with guitars that have more of a crunch to them. As Reflected have been around since 2003, it's nice to see that they didn't fall into the pop punk boy-band craze. Each song sounds like a "summer" track; I could imagine most of them on a summer teen movie soundtrack, but an independent film, not a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster.

Sonically, it sounds excellent. Each instrument is recorded beautifully and the mix is well done, too. No one instrument takes precedence and it actually sounds similar to how a live show would be. The vocals are in the front of the mix, the lyrics are discernable, and the guitars complement each other well. The bass is a little difficult to hear on some tracks, but it's still there. The drum kit recording is also done well; it sounds like each drum was miced separately along with a couple area microphones for the cymbals. But the mix of the drum kit is what makes it the best because it doesn't sound artificial at all. Each bass drum and snare hit carry strong tones that help to keep the tempo moving.

I can't say there are any outstanding tracks off the release. Nothing is exceptionally amazing and that is not a putdown whatsoever; Reflected play what they play well and sound like how I wish a lot more bands sounded now. There isn't anything wrong with not truly experimenting. I mean it's not broken, so why try to fix it into power ballads?