Three years and a major lineup change later, Taking Back Sunday is back with a new release, named somewhat appropriately “New Again.”

In 2006, Taking Back Sunday was perhaps the band of the year. The band’s release “Louder Now” went gold and their singles “Make Damn Sure” and “Liar (It Takes One to Know One)” tore up the radio and catapulted them into near superstardom in the genre.

But since Fred Mascherino (guitarist/co-vocalist) left in 2007, it forced the band to once again deal with losing vital band members. Earlier in the band’s history, they lost members John Nolan and Shaun Cooper who went on to form Straylight Run.

Mascherino’s absence shows in the album with the lack of back and forth vocals that gave TBS their somewhat signature sound (Mascherino’s replacement Matt Fazzi doesn’t seem to fit the role as well).

But despite Masherino’s absence, the band- comprised of Fazzi, Adam Lazzara, Mark O’Donnell, Eddie Reyes and Matt Rubano- were still able to create a solid mix of catchy and powerful
alternative rock songs.

The album starts off with three catchy songs in “New Again,” “Sink Into Me” and “Lonely, Lonely.” “New Again,” the album’s title track, starts with a strong bass line before eventually

flowing into the meat of the song that features the catchy chorus of “I am, I’m ready to be new again.” “Sink Into Me,” the album’s first single, starts of chants of “Hey. Hey. Hey” and then transitions into typical Taking

Back Sunday: fast, edgy, catchy music.

The album is solid and is better than a lot of the music that comes out from the genre today. But compared to past Taking Back Sunday efforts, it is lacking a few things. The lack of the back and forth vocals forces lead vocalist Lazzara to take on the role by himself and while he does a pretty good job, the band’s signature sound lies in having a co-vocalist.

Another drawback is the band’s lash back song to Masherino called “Capital ME”, which sounds very high school melodramatic. Also, many of the songs on the second half of the record sound very generic and similar.

The record is catchy, fast and powerful and has potential for radio and mass success. But it doesn’t have the singles and the depth to the have sales and staying power that “Louder Now” had. The band also has the potential to lose many of their die hard fans because of the album’s watered down feel.

Three out of five stars.

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E-mail the author: Tim Ottusch