From Ocala Kids To Accomplished Adults.
Florida’s poster children of the 2010 Easycore boom, A Day to Remember have gone through very minimal stylistic changes in the last 16 years. They’ve always carried a heavier, pop influenced sound that at times pushed the envelope of what most people considered hardcore music. But through it all you could always count on front man Jeremy Mckinnon’s mix of heavy, unclean vocals and his trademarked melodic pop inspired chorus. This style carried on up to the release of Bad Vibrations, which while not reaching the same heights of previous records such as What Separates Me From You; still landed well with most fans and critics alike. Fast forward to 2021. A Day to Remember teases a new record titled You’re Welcome. The lead singles for it consisted of “Mind Reader,” “Degenerates,” and “Brick Wall.” These tracks all received a fair amount of criticism when they released, most people alluding to the fact that they seemed a bit more pop centered than what the band had always been before. But for the most part, people eagerly awaited the record to make any real judgements on the state of the band’s music. And finally, the album dropped. And the reception of it was an absolute cluster.
You’re Welcome released to a very large mix of hate and praise, and I understand both sides. The album is very much pop focused and it seemed like the end of an era in many ways. For the sake of not writing a book, I’m only going to focus on the more important tracks on the record: “Mind Reader,” “Bloodsucker,” and “Everything We Need.” I’m also going to talk about “F.Y.M” and “Only Money” as one entity, because they’re very much connected in making one of my points.
First, we’ll talk about “Mind Reader.” The lead single for the album, and one of the more divisive songs as well. It has a very pop centered sound to it, while telling a very coherent and relatable story using Jeremy’s rough vocals, blended with fantastic melodies. The song focuses on a person talking someone clearly important in their life. There is a clear communication issue between the two and the song sees the narrator finally voice their frustrations with not ever knowing what’s going on or how the other person is feeling, all while they feel as they though they are expected to know these things. It’s a fun track the hashes out a situation a lot of people end up in over the course of one’s life. It’s the second song on the album, but as it came out first, I thought I’d talk about it first. Its easily one of my favorite tracks, and I highly recommend giving it a listen.
Next up is “Bloodsucker,” a song about dealing with someone who’s only around to leech off of you. The song is relatively light for being an A Day to Remember song, and leans on more synth sounding instrumentals, as well as some fantastic rhythm guitar throughout the verses. The chorus is catchy and clean, and really shows us how much Jeremy has grown as a vocalist over the years. The underlying heavier guitar and bass backing create a brilliant atmosphere for the track, and really drives home the building anger of the song. This is important to the summary of the album, I promise.
Here I want to go ahead and talk about “F.Y.M” and “Only Money.” They’re two different songs, but they play into one narrative: growing as a person. “F.Y.M,” or “F*** You Money,” is a song about wanting to be rich enough to leave where you are and rub it in the faces of the people who always belittle and bring you down; I.E your boss, coworkers, family, etc. It puts an emphasis on the mentality of becoming wealthy and successful just to prove someone wrong, and really gives you a good look into the early aspirations of the narrator. This leads into the song “Only Money,” which is clearly told from the perspective of Jeremy further down in his life. He’s already made it. Jeremy is successful in the ways he wanted to be: he’s rich, famous, has a family he loves dearly, and has created something bigger than himself. But in this track, he reflects back on what it really cost him to get those things. We hear the story of when his grandmother died, and how Jeremy hadn’t seen her in a long time because of work. The song tells us about them scrambling to video call her and show her their new baby, and reminiscing on when he was a child and the memories that were made with his grandmother. The song is a beautiful piece that really hits harder after listening to “F.Y.M,” as it shows the transition from a young, hot-headed kid, to being an adult and understanding things more clearly.
“Everything We Need” is the closing track of the record. It honestly has a very southern sound to it, relying on an acoustic guitar with a little bit of an electric backing. The track also has very subtle but gorgeous bass drums in the background that really builds the atmosphere. The song is about taking a drive down the highway, reflecting on the journey so far, and trying to grapple with some of the feelings from along the way. The narrator revisits old spots from their youth, thinking about how they could recapture the magic of what has passed. It’s a stellar way to end the album.
You’re Welcome is an album about the personal growth of the band, going from young delinquents to responsible adults. They make sure to express that no matter how far they’ve come, they’ll never forget where they came from or where they’ve been. As someone who’s been a fan of the group for as long as I can remember it’s a wonderful thing to see them look back on where they started, while not being afraid to move on to new things in their careers.
I think the big thing to take away from this record is change. No matter how much we want our favorite bands to stay the same people they’ve always been and make the same kind of music, everyone grows up at some point. It’s been sixteen years since the band released their first record, and to expect them to still be the same people, let alone musicians, is insane to me. I do agree with the point I’ve seen talked about a lot: this record is the end of an era. Personally, I am very excited to see what the new era of ADTR will look like, and if You’re Welcome is any indication of what it’s going to look like, we’re in for a real treat.
