{grate 3} Yellowcard may be best remembered as the squeaky-clean
pop-punkers who took a multi-million dollar stroll down
Avenue
release proves that these romantics can flex enough meaty musicianship to
warrant mainstream success.
The live
performance is a series of rising harmonies tightly wound to unremitting
reserves of irresistible energy. You’ve gotta give the guys credit — they’re
damn fun to listen to, and they’re flawlessly poised in the upper echelons of
the pop elite.
The live album combines everything that’s made Yellowcard a
guilty pleasure for Californians rocking
out in traffic — mainly, those sky-high, sparkling power ballads, complete with
lovesick screaming. The pitch-perfect frontman Ryan Key wouldn’t be so
compelling, though, without the persuasion of violin-wielding Sean Mackin,
furiously sawing his bow to make refrains like, “Just let go, but keep it
inside” that much rosier.
Yellowcard has slickly honed a place in the melodramatic,
anthemic genre of music, too often known for sappy dumped kids whining in their
mom’s basement — but, as this live recording proves, kids don’t stay kids
forever.
This seems to be Key’s message as he rips head-banging
chords over the shrieking Las Vegas crowd of doting tweens, confidently
proclaiming that his purpose is to ensure that they “have the best rock-n-roll
show” of their lives.
A lofty claim; but as the spotless drumming climbs to
impossible heights, and Key breaks into “The Takedown” without missing an
urgent beat, his claim seems feasible.
The Floridians follow up with a sequence of familiar tunes
off their older albums (Ocean Avenue, Lights and Sounds), throwing in a few
from their newest endeavor, Paper Walls — but not without giving fair warning:
“A lot of you aren’t going to know how they go or what the words are.” The
solution? “Go to the bar, take a shot, and come back … the more you drink, the
better we sound.”
But apart from the likelihood that 75 percent of their
audience is underage, a slug of whiskey ain’t necessary to get excited about
Yellowcard’s sharpened sound. They may not have any surprises up their sleeves,
but — live, or prerecorded — they’re good at what they do. The violin doesn’t
hurt, either.
