Mayday Parade – Monsters in the Closet

Way back in 2006, Mayday Parade seemed poised to be one of the biggest bands in the scene. The band released the well-received Tales Told By Dead Friends EP that year, and followed around that year’s Warped Tour hocking CDs in the parking lot. Mayday released their full-length debut A Lesson in Romantics and their popularity exploded. Unfortunately for how the band’s future, they also parted ways with co-lead vocalist and chief lyricist Jason Lancaster that year, giving fans a ready-made talking point any time future releases didn’t live up to the hype of A Lesson in Romantics. To be fair, that is a valid point to be made. Comparing Lancaster’s post-Mayday career to Mayday’s post-Lancaster career, most would agree that Lancaster came out on top. He is pretty clearly the superior lyricist, and Go Radio’s total catalogue is much stronger than Mayday’s in this reviewer’s opinion.
Lancaster was not, however, the only talented musician in Mayday Parade. Derek Sanders is an excellent vocalist in his own right, and drummer Jake Bundrick is no slouch on the mic himself. A victim of their own success, Mayday Parade signed to a major label for 2009’s Anywhere But Here. By the band’s account, the label intruded on the writing process, foisted outside co-writers upon the band and ignoring the band’s vision for their sound. The result was an undoubtedly bland, mainstream mess of an album that fits more among the likes of The Maine (sorry, fans of that band) than in Mayday’s catalogue. The band re-captured ownership of their creative direction on 2011’s self-titled album, but the outcome was uneven: improved overall, but with several poor efforts.

With that complicated journey over the last six years, Monsters In The Closet seems to be the first Mayday Parade album to actually fly in under the radar. And with all the hype, rumors, and chaos mostly gone, Mayday has produced what is easily their best work since A Lesson in Romantics. While the band is unlikely to ever again reach the heights of that release, Monsters can stand on its own quite confidently. The record kicks off with an a cappella intro from Sanders, backed by a chorus of his band members, before launching into high gear. Right away, you notice a more focussed attempt to integrate Bundrick as a second vocalist, something missing on past releases. The opener “Ghosts” is plenty catchy, and features a strong guitar solo from Alex Garcia. The second track, “Girls,” is a miss lyrically, but it’s still catchy and fun. “Last Night for a Table for Two” has a punchy swagger to the guitar work and Jeremy Lenzo’s bass work on the track is excellent. The album only gets stronger as it goes along, with Sanders showing off his vocal talent on the piano-led “Even Robots Need Blankets.” 7th track, and really much of the album, “Repent and Repeat” has hooks for days and more solid guitar work from Garcia and Brooks Betts. The country-tinged ballad “Hold Onto Me” is  very strong, and the album ender, “Angels” may be the best individual song Mayday has written since ALiR. “Angels” features the first use of Bundrick as a true co-lead vocalist in a slow-burning back and forth number which would be right at home on that full-length debut.

Best Tracks: “Hold Onto Me,” “Angels,” “Nothing You Can Live Without, Nothing You Can Do About”
Worst Tracks: “Girls,” “12 Through 15”
Grade: 7.5/10 If Sanders was a stronger lyricist, and “Girls”/”12 Through 15” were replaced with better songs, this album could reach a 9. As it stands, a very strong effort from the scene veterans.