Leisure Hour: ...and to think

I love bands that utilize dueling vocals, especially when the vocalists are highly complementary. The dynamic of the female and male vocals trading off is fantastic here. When evaluating male and female vocal dynamics in the scene, I always think about why a band like Straylight Run never truly reached their full potential. It was, imo, because they failed to treat Michelle DaRosa and John Nolan the way Taking Back Sunday treated Adam Lazzara and John Nolan. In Straylight Run, it was always John taking a turn, and then Michelle taking a turn. There was no real overlap, no layered vocal competition, and no friction. Leisure Hour understands this dynamic better, though I feel like Grace Dudas holds back her power just a little bit on certain tracks. If she fully unleashed her upper register, it would elevate the entire record.

Musically, the album is incredibly melodic and features some genuinely unique guitar tones that cut right through the mix. A track like Morning Song sounds like it was ripped straight out of the classic Simple Plan discography (outside of the guitars, they do not sound like Simple Plan at all), bringing a massive wave of pop punk nostalgia. I just wish there was even more of that aggressive dueling and overlapping vocal style on this specific track to push it over the edge.

The undisputed standout of the album is Jobs. Its so incredibly catchy and dripping with a fun, party atmosphere that makes it instantly replayable. It carries a heavy hint of You Me and Everyone We Know, which is high praise for any modern pop punk act despite that band never making big waves. The only minor gripe is that the autotune is cranked a bit too high for a genre that usually thrives on raw, unpolished imperfection.

You can hear that same heavy vocal processing on Roku City as well. But just like Jobs, Roku City is an instant favorite. Catchy, fast, and energetic, the middle of the album really flexes it muscles.

Lyrically, the tracks cover a wide range of heavy topics, reading like a disconnected series of personal trauma. Themes of grief, regret, and anger all blend together seamlessly. Leisure Hour pairs these deeply depressing concepts with an upbeat, high energy musical barrage, and that juxtaposition compliments the subject matter perfectly. It is the classic emo trick of hiding sad lyrics inside a bouncy, major key chord progression.

This entire year has been fantastic for underground or indie punk bands looking to finally break out, and Leisure Hour is currently sitting right on the tipping point. With a little more vocal composition and limit pushing, and a bit less studio processing, they are poised to become heavyweights in the scene.