EASYWAY - Forever In A Day

11 songs
34:50 minutes
***** ****
Funtime

Bandpage

Portugal not only boasts an internationally more than successful soccer team, but also seems to make its first awe-inspiring steps into the punk world. So yes, I know there have been scores of Portuguese punk and hardcore bands, but so far I haven't come across one sounding as great as Easyway. Certainly enough, Easyway wouldn't win a prize in an originality contest, but if you are not about to start a music revolution, then do what you do as good as you can! And these guys do this from the very first song on. Where a lot of newer bands suffer from a weak production, Easyway had their album mixed in California, which may be the cause for the sunny West Coast sound you get on this album. And as if expecting already a rising objection, I can assure you that Forever In A Day is not a happy-go-lucky fun punk album. It goes much further than this, mostly using the rocking attributes you find with so many emo punk bands, with the fattest guitar sound to make the music anything but wimpy. The backing vocals, oohs and aahs, work perfectly too, as can be witnessed on Choking Pleasure. Apart from that, it is hard to make out any specific highlights, because the album is full of fantastic songs, delivered in a more than convincing way. If this album had been released by one of the "big" punk/hardcore labels (Fat Wreck, Epitaph, Victory), it could probably have reached a much bigger audience, but alone the fact that they have Joey Cape (Lagwagon) adding vocals on one song should already open the eyes to all melodic punk fans who might otherwise not notice the existence of this fine album. The Belgian label Funtime has already released a bunch of great album, but never have the come up with something showing so much professionalism! All those of you who need to know that there are amazing bands besides what the big labels have to offer, check out this South European band (and don't blame them for kicking England out of the Euro2004). There are few, if any albums out now who combine melodic punk with emo rock and some of the most intriguing melodies.