Album Review :: Versus the World :: Homesick/Roadsick

Written by: Andrea Janov, CC2K Music Editor

Versus the World :: Homesick/Roadsick :: Kung Fu Records

Versus the World has members of both Lagwagon and The Ataris but somehow has an Ignite meets early A New Found Glory sound. Homesick/Roadsick has an upbeat sound that is perfect for summer. This is a record to listen to on a road trip, this is a record to listen while hanging out with friends when it is almost too hot outside, it is a record to shake away the winter chill.

Homesick/Roadsick opens with The Santa Margarita, a super fun song with awesome hooks that will have you humming along and anxiously waiting to hear what the rest of the album sounds like. The Black Ocean is a bit heavier, yet still upbeat, A Storm Like Me has a 90s feeling to it, Seven. Thirty One offers up the nostalgia factor, “all we could do is raise a glass / and remember all the good nights we had / the best we could do / is sing along / the very least we could do is sing along”.

A Brooklyn Rooftop builds on that nostalgia, “We’re not as fucked up as we used to be” and A Sight For Sore Eyes goes deeper into those nostalgic memories of ideals vs realities. It kicks off with:

to all the would be stars / who are stuck in karaoke bars

to all the would be lovers / that always seem to dream alone

to all the second guessers / and assistant managers

to all the second born

to those who broke their mothers’ hearts / with their tattoos and their drinking problems

we’re beautiful / like a rock in a cops face

I unexpectedly got sucked into this emotional conundrum that I wasn’t ready for. The song ends with the repetition of the desperate cry, “Don’t let the bastards drag you down” to punctuate it all.  The title track, Homesick/Roadsick is a passionate, catchy song, but maybe comes too late in the album. The album steadily progresses towards an ending, that is neatly provided by Our Song, a slow brooding track that just dissipates into the air.