I first heard of Chase Your Words in January 2015 when I lived in Seattle.
I love watching these guys grow, I felt proud when I saw Chris Siglos (lead singer) take the stage for “Dear Maria” at an All Time Low show in Vancouver in September 2015. They released Forever & Always in July 2016, not a bad EP, but nothing too new to the scene. Something that caught my ear about the band, however, was just how incredibly catchy their songs are. They’ll be stuck in your head for days after listening. Kellin Quinn (Sleeping with Sirens) announced signing Chase Your Words to his new record label Pretty Rad Records in early 2017 with their new EP being released soon after.
Here to Stay brings Chase Your Words’ catchiness to 2017. As I said before, I don’t feel the band’s quite introduced anything new, but damn they’re catchy. “Keep in Mind” is that windows-down, belt-out road trip jam. Track two, “Right Here,” is a rework of a Forever & Always track. There’s no doubt this song is going to have you singing along by the halfway point, especially with the use of gang vocals in song. It’s got a fairly basic drumbeat that’s easy to follow with guitar that matches. “Games” is just as catchy and has a few quirks to it, like using a car horn sound effect following the line “She drives me crazy in her red corvette.” The next track “Carry On (Without Me)” introduces a little more rock with a bit of a rough edge to the vocals and a faster beat. This leads to a bit of a weird transition into an acoustic-driven “Daisies.” The title track brings back that rock edge and brings in Derek Sanders (Mayday Parade) for guest vocals. “Here to Stay” utilizes Sanders’ harsher vocal side that Mayday Parade fans will recognize from their Black Lines album. I was honestly surprised how well Siglos’ and Sanders’ voices sounded together, I wouldn’t mind to see these two work together on more projects in the future. In all, I’m really excited to see where Chase Your Words goes from here. I believe they have a lot of potential in the music scene and can’t wait to see where the next few years and their new record deal take them.
Overall: Here to Stay is almost run-of-the-mill pop punk with added catchiness. If you enjoy pop punk in the likes of All Time Low or Mayday Parade, I’d definitely recommend giving Chase Your Words a listen.
7/10
Review by Shane Haley
Crown Times Music 