“Someone’s gotta say it”, Stand Atlantic vocalist Bonnie Fraser growls just before launching into the chorus of “pity party”, the explosive second song on the band’s new album, f.e.a.r.. In your face, aggressive and perfectly blunt, “pity party” is the perfect taste test of Stand Atlantic’s third full-length album, which finds them pushing the boundaries of their sound more than ever before. Where 2020’s Pink Elephant began testing the waters, f.e.a.r. (an acronym for Fuck Everything And Run) finds the band defying all expectations and proving that they are capable of just about anything they set their minds to.
“doomsday,” the album’s powerful opener, is proof of the band’s growth as songwriters and their willingness to try anything. Leaning into glitchy, electronic production, the song steps further away from the pop-punk sound that first put Stand Atlantic on the map, and the payoff couldn’t be better. That’s also not to say that the band has forgotten their roots, either. Songs like “van gogh” and “dumb” featuring Tom The Mail Man feel a bit more classically pop-punk, but with spectacular production and a slight hip-hop edge to the latter, both songs feel larger than life. Then there’s “deathwish”, which takes a page from featured artist nothing,nowhere.’s book and slows things down for a darker, more emo-rap influenced sound.
Most albums might feel a bit forced or insincere when exploring so many different sounds and genres, but the thing that makes f.e.a.r. work is its energy. Whether it’s the heavy as fuck “switchblade” or the poppier “nails from the back”, it’s the explosive guitar work, the emotionally raw lyrics and Bonnie Fraser’s spectacular performances that really make f.e.a.r. feel cohesive.
The great thing about f.e.a.r. is that it’s not trying too hard to be something that it’s not. Rather than forcing a specific sound or theme, the album is instead, “a fuck you to the conventional bullshit Hollywood-style story that musicians tell you fell out of their ass”, as Fraser has previously stated, and it shows. Some might say that it makes the fourteen songs feel a little bit all over the place in terms of emotion or sound, but it also just feels incredibly human. There isn’t a single song throughout f.e.a.r. that feels forced. Whether it’s the softer “bloodclot”, the poppy as hell “don’t talk [to me]” or the explosive “molotov [OK]” the band is free to follow their inspirations and try new things, and the result is something that is very honest and organic.