Maybe one of the shortest releases of the year, Frank Iero and the Patience’s Keep The Coffins Coming EP is one that should not be overlooked.
Taken and redone from FIATP’s 2016 album, Parachutes, I could listen to the new version of “I’m A Mess” for two hours without losing interest. The song takes me back to the night I shot the band at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA back in July of this year. It encapsulates that same buzz the whole venue had that night into the one song. It’s a feeling that draws you in and makes you crave more, something every first track on a record should have. “I’m A Mess” also contains some of my favorite lyrics on the EP, ending on “I am just a mess… And I don’t wanna change,” which is a sort of acceptance of not being okay and not having everything together in life, something I believe to be highly relatable for a majority of people, yet something that most also don’t want to admit. The next track, “BFF,” takes me back to high school, and that hollow feeling of shock after someone you once called your best friend turns on you, leaving you thinking back over everything you did, wondering what you did wrong. While I wish there were more variable lyrics than having half of the song repeating “Best friends forever / Best friends forever / Best friends forever but not now,” the song isn’t a weak song. The guitar solo just past the halfway mark sparks that urge in me to grab my guitar and start playing again. Track three, “No Fun Club,” is a short, in-your-face song about how “I just wanna be what the fuck I wanna be,” and being tired of “pretending to give a shit” and “act cool.” I love the irony that comes in the line “I just wanna have some peace and quiet” being in a loud, punk song. Evan Nestor and Frank Iero’s guitar work and Matt Olsson’s drumming seem to feed off each other and build an atmosphere around the yelling, angry vocals of the song, packing the track with a punch. The EP finishes on a cover of “You Are My Sunshine.” Frank Iero and the Patience are able to take this classic song, usually seen in a more loving, heartfelt, and happy way, and remind the audience of the more somber topic the lyrics touch on; “Now you’ve left me to love another / You have shattered all of my dreams.” Keep The Coffins Coming provides a fresh take an old song, a cover song, and brings heat and angst with two new ones.
Overall: If emo and angst is what you crave, look no further than Frank Iero and the Patience’s new EP, Keep The Coffins Coming.
Check Out: I’m a Mess, No Fun Club
8.5/10
Review by Shane Haley
Crown Times Music 