CD REVIEW: 3PM – Slow Me Down

Label: Independent

Release Date: August 15, 2014

Rating: 8/10

Reviewed by: Mike Hubbard

Pop-punk as a genre probably reached its commercial peak in the early 2000’s on the heels of classic releases such as Blink-182’s ‘Enema Of The State’, Simple Plan’s ‘No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls’, and Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’, but to say that the genre is dead (as some have said) is going a bit too far.  Case is point is Baltimore, MD’s 3PM.  From catchy guitar hooks to lyrics of pensive teenage longings to a DIY attitude, 3PM brings the whole package and is beginning to see some fruit from their labor.  Formed in 2012, they have already had the opportunity to open for pop punk’s reigning kings All Time Low and make their debut appearance on Warped Tour.  They entered the studio earlier this year to record their sophomore full length with renowned producer Paul Leavitt (All Time Low, Senses Fail, The Dangerous Summer), and the results are sounding good.

The album is called ‘Slow Me Down’, and the title track dropped as the first single on August 4^th.  I’ve had a chance to listen to all 11 songs from the full length multiple times and the single is a good indicator of what you can expect to hear when the disc is released on August 15^th.  Slow Me Down covers the stereotypical pop puck theme of a young boy wanting his girlfriend to move the relationship faster, but with an introspective and philosophical twist.  “As we get older our lives fly by, but what seemed like forever was just last night cause you slow me down”.  You end up with the expected catchy pop punk tunes, but with lyrics that are a bit deeper and more contemplative that you typically find in the genre.  In other words, a more thoughtful and sensitive pop punk.  Other tracks from the disc that stood out to me was the opener, ‘Something New’, and the up tempo ‘All Caught Up’.

For fans of the genre searching for something new and fresh, 3PM may be exactly what you were looking for.

http://www.3pm-music.com

https://www.facebook.com/3PMOfficialMusic

https://twitter.com/3PM_music

Category: CD Reviews