CollegeKidz42 - Share With The Class Album Review
Listen here: https://collegekidz42.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6QKSnO3KlxXqlMP4KEytyEcFrRrOwERf
Fledgling indie punk group CollegeKidz42 is comprised of two college students who split all the instruments between the two of them; Christian Albee plays bass, guitar, and synthesizers in addition to being the primary vocalist, while Jon Hare lays down drums, guitar, and background vocals. Riding the strength of quality from their debut EP “Hit the Book!”, they just recently dropped their first album, “Share With The Class”.
While this album feels more like a jumbled collection of rough cut demos than a final product, I can really see the potential in their original music. I say original music because 6 of the 9 songs are actually covers. Admittedly, this is a big turn off for me, but I’m game. What’s this album like? It’s a commendably decent effort, as long as you ignore the “gotcha!” method of slipping in Christian covers to convert us heathens.
Given that most of the song and album titles have to do with academic themes, it’s only fitting that the first track is entitled “College Kids”, a Relient K cover. As someone who grew up listening to emo-tinged rock bands, I’m gonna have high standards for this one. Unfortunately, the song is very poorly mixed. The instrumentals are way too quiet to fully appreciate. This is a damn shame, since the instrumentals are easily the best part of the whole song. Yeah, it’s not high quality, and there are some audible fuckups here and there, but the drums and guitar would be really fun to listen to if they weren’t mixed so badly and quietly. I get the feeling that Christian really lacks confidence as a singer, since he barely raises his voice above a dull monotone. Listen to the original song, and hear how dynamic and engaging the vocals are, and you’ll see where CollegeKidz42 really missed the mark.
“You, Not I” starts off with a pleasant surprise of a ukulele intro as we start to see what the original side of CollegeKidz42 is capable of. The song is mixed a little better, and the instrumentals, the bass line in particular, is extremely interesting and fun to listen to! The vocals are still fairly lackluster, but are already dramatically improving from “College Kids”. They actually remind me of the band Cheap Haircuts (criminally underrated indie folk punk) on this track a little, especially when they hit the chorus. The synths, vocal harmonies, and intricate bass part add a lot to this song. I just wish the song was faster; as the song goes on, it starts to feel way too slow for this song to shine as much as it could’ve.
“God Forsaken” is an apt description for the attempt at double bass drum intro to the song. When done right, double bass can elevate a song to the next level. However, when it falls flat, as is the case in this song, the sloppiness distracts the listener from any other more positive attributes that the track may have. The entirely instrumental song goes on for way too long, coming across as a poorly constructed jam session. I will say that the guitar solo 3/4 of the way in is pretty well-done, although it sits very uneasily on top of the mismatched rhythm guitar part. One last word on this song: invest in better distortion pedals.
The album takes a bizarre turn for the church when we suddenly hit the cover of popular mainstream worship song “At Your Name” by Phil Wickham. Was anyone expecting CollegeKidz42 to suddenly become YouthGroupKidz42 halfway through “Share With The Class”? I sure as hell wasn’t, especially immediately after a song called “God Forsaken”. As far as the instrumentals go, it’s a fairly decent, ukulele-heavy track, although they should’ve had at least some guitar in the background to support the uke lead. Just having bass underlying the ukulele doesn’t suffice here. As for the cover overall...I don’t know, I guess you’d like it if what you wanted to “Share With The Class” was your Bible in one hand and a cross in the other.
Continuing the Christian pop punk streak with “Those Nights”, CollegeKidz42 perform a song that’s a love letter to bands Hawk Nelson. It’s a pretty repetitive tune, but it’s a harmless, if somewhat toothless, summer love song. They don’t reinvent the wheel here, although that doesn’t mean you can’t tap your foot along to the catchy chorus.
Remember that South Park joke where they just took love songs and tweaked them slightly so they suddenly became worship songs? “Revivify Me” (say that five times fast) is that joke personified. However, truth be told, I actually really like this one. Yeah, it’s a thinly veiled “Come To Jesus” message, but the lyrics are heartfelt here as the singer opens up about depression and struggles he’s dealt with in his life. While the instrumentals aren’t super dynamic, they serve the song well and help make a highlight of the album. Having the bass line at the beginning match the vocal melody was a nice touch as well.
AAAAAAAND we’re back with our regular broadcast of worship covers. “Mighty To Save” is a mainstay of modern worship at churches (I should know, being a former pastor’s kid), and CollegeKidz42 do their best to do a faithful rendition. The hi hats for the drums are mixed too high, so it’s a little painful when the drummer hits any of the cymbals. The problem with the vocals on this album, with this song serving as a particularly strong example, is that they almost feel separate from the rest of the instruments. I almost feel like I’m listening to a guy do a vocal cover, as opposed to a full-fledged band doing their thing.
A muddled keyboard intro awkwardly overshadows the rest of the band as we listen to “Not Alone”. This is one of the weaker songs on the album, as the singer’s voice grates on the ears with his toneless delivery. The song is mercifully short, but not before that same keyboard melody comes back to end the song.
“I Surrender All” is the last song on the album, and I gotta say, while it’s a straight up worship song, it’s a pretty excellent conclusion to “Share With the Class”. It actually has a Social Distortion vibe to it, which helped me get into the song. There’s a huge plot twist in the choruses: The singer can sing above a low monotone! It’s a little off-key, granted, but to be honest, it’s so refreshing to hear him going a higher octave that I’m more than willing to excuse the mistakes. It’s a little jarring at first, but as he gets comfortable singing at that register, it becomes a bit of an earworm! I listened to this song a few times and I think they chose a good song to end the album. Keep making music, youth group dudes, just lay off the covers and embrace your original side.