Ever After has us chanting 'never again'

By Mike Shames
[senior entertainment writer]

Vancouver-based Marianas Trench is a well-known band that’s achieved moderate success with it’s pop-punk sound.

In the past, the songs have been quirky, original and fun, all while still maintaining their punk-y sound.

But things have changed. Ever After is a disappointment.

It’s still Marianas Trench, but this would count as their “selling out” album, as much as a pop-punk band can sell out. The punk flavour has been replaced with a distinctive dance floor vibe.

Not a totally bad thing, but there is one song that nearly destroys the album completely, “Toy Soldiers”.

Sampling from other artists seems to be a standard practice, but let’s call it what it really is: stealing, or ripping off. And Marianas Trench seems to be reaching for the bottom of the barrel straight away.

“Toy Soldiers”opening sample is “Tick-Tok” by Kesha. All they did was change the key, and maybe the tempo. But play them simultaneously, and you can definitely hear it.

When I first heard it, I was expecting to hear that drunk buffoon slur her way onto the album, this is short after the “WTF is this” moment. The best thing I can say about this whole shift to a more club based sound, which everyone and their dog is doing (featuring Lil Wayne or Pitbull of course), is at least they aren’t Hot Chelle Rae.

 At least they managed to stay appealing without being phoney, prepackaged, half-assed wannabes.

The best comparison is Good Charlotte’s 2007 album Good Morning Revival. Each of them are albums where the bands actually tried, and tried something a different than their past poppy-but-still-punk sound.

Both are solid albums, I still enjoy Ever After and tap my foot to most of the songs, but the attempt has backfired, making the album forgettable and unimpressive. Hopefully the band will learn from this, and better luck on the next album.