Like Pacific has come so far from their first EP release on Pure Noise. They’ve matured and grown as songwriters and musicians in order to create this record. Distant Like You Asked is a pop-punk release this year where every song is not double timed and taken as fast as possible to piggy back off the success of bands like Real Friends and Knuckle Puck. Just because it worked for them doesn’t mean it works for everyone. Like Pacific realized this and put out an extremely solid album. Showing their maturity while tackling the topic of heartache. They sing about a failed relationship in “Distant” as if they were your friend sitting across the table from you spilling his/her guts. In fact the majority of their songs off this album are about this relationship (much like most pop-punk albums), but no song seems redundant each has a unique take on this specific relationship. Innovative and unique instrumentation holds your attention throughout. They have kept things that worked from their earlier release like the skate punk tom driven drum parts that almost force you to two-step. Not to mention the beautiful yell vocals during “Worthless Case” and numerous other songs on the album add so much emotion to the all ready emotionally driven songs.
“22a” is the perfect example of a beautiful pop-punk anthem. Vocally Like Pacific shows just how diverse they are from every other band on the market. Showing they can both sing clean vocals, but also do perfect punk yell/singing notorious to the old skate punk and hardcore bands. All the while having instrumentals that will even make a grown man feel the emotional presence in their songs. Melodic bridges and ripping verses make this song a must listen to.
Distant Like You Asked is a great pop-punk album; it’s angry, insightful, passionate, well written, and melodic. There are so many great things I could say about this album, but mostly I’m just impressed that this is the same band that released a self – titled EP (Like Pacific) in 2015 that was just repetitive crap. Distant Like You Asked is a breath of fresh air and reminds me of what I loved about pop-punk and punk-rock of the early 2000’s. It’s unapologetic, fast, and meaningful. The yell sung vocals are finally done right by a band in this scene. Instrumentation is melodic and groovy forcing you to nod your head and get up to dance like an idiot in the pit.
Distant Like You Asked is surely going to be over looked and lost in the sea of music simply because Like Pacific haven’t gotten that big yet. However they are on one of the biggest pop-punk tours this year, so hopefully more people will discover this band before it’s too late. I know I will be listening to this album for months and months to come.
Overall rating: 4.5/5
Recommended Listening: “Distant,” “Worthless Case,”and “22a”
