If If Alkaline Trio’s From Here To Infirmary and Yellowcard’s Lights and Sounds we’re brothers, then Chicago locals Lights Over Bridgeport’s new EP Good Grief would be the youngest sibling. Produced by ex-The Swellers Nick Diener and friends, the EP is full of silvery harmony, power chords with a hint of distortion throughout the record. Packed with smooth pop melodies, it’s almost hard to see how lead singer Johnny Hamlin hasn’t started his own pop band yet.
Cut straight from the pop punk cloth, the opening track “Heartbreakers” holds uptempo guitar breaks coupled with gang vocal harmonies. The piece de resistance of the EP has to be “Saving April,” a 2000’s ode to the pop punk love songs with lyrics like, “I spent a lot of time locked in my shell feeling stuck with my head down/now the sun feels like it shines off my heart like a new tattoo.”
The most most carefully crafted and their most popular song, “Curses,” brings a chugging downtempo intro which builds up and pours into the chorus with backing vocals by Diener. The track seems to be a retrospective look at a failing relationship, but the building guitar into the outro bridge ends the track on a high note. Their most inspirational song, “Inscription”, pushes the EP through to the end with gang vocals and wailing guitars.
