“Hey heart, stop beating. It’s not worth repeating.”
Time flies, and that is most evident by the fact that I am here to review my second album by Can’t Swim. It’s a bit bizarre to have artists release multiple projects in the time that Boolin Tunes has been around, but here we are. However, to be fair, Can’t Swim is a bit unlike other bands in the scene with respect to their discography output. This is their 2nd full length endeavour in just over 16 months. Thanks But No Thanks will also mark their 4th LP since 2017, along with 3 EPs within that same time frame. That is an impressive rate of writing material. And those metrics don’t include their stellar debut Death Deserves a Name. So, the band likes to write, and the quality of the jams they put out rarely suffers despite this. And that is largely still true with Thanks But No Thanks, out this Friday March 3rd via Pure Noise Records.
The album starts on a very melancholy note with “I heard they found you face down inside your living room” which details front man Chris LoPorto’s feelings after learning his friend died to suicide. It’s an extremely vulnerable topic that takes bravery to bring to light. I think the track does said vulnerability justice. The chorus is simple but cathartic, with LoPorto singing “I thought you said it’d be me and you.” The guitar work throughout in rhythmic, bolstering LoPorto’s singing which is the main focus. And I like the use of silence throughout, where sometimes the song would take a pause before continuing or adding a stripped back topline from LoPorto. It adds to the shaky feeling of processing such a grievous event, at least for me.
The tempo is then picked up with another single, “Nowhere, Ohio” which is just a very complete, strong Can’t Swim track. The lyrics are very personal and specific to LoPorto’s life which has always been one of the best aspects of the band. There’s a great chorus on this one too which the drums laid down by Blake Gamel seem to guide. Can’t Swim always seem to discuss the band’s place in the world and how their experiences thus far have shaped their lyrical content and song writing, and it’s easy to latch onto that as a listener. “Nowhere, Ohio” is a great example of this. Gotta love the reference to Alkaline Trio’s “Radio” here too.
“yer paradox I’m paradigm” is one of the strongest cuts on the record, and perhaps it’ll enter the upper echelon of Can’t Swim track, starting with a little old timey sample, then Chris’ vocals kick in. The track is filled to the brim with clever, high energy vocal cuts. And while the bridge starts off a bit slow, there’s a great riff that comes in that caught me off guard, as the band doesn’t usually write guitar parts like that.
“Eliminate” brings back those Foreign Language vibes with fast paced drums and gang vocals. It’s nestled nicely within the track listing which is largely pop punk focused, but I’m not sure that it does enough to stand out as a favorite despite the change of pace. I do like how the bridge starts with this movie-like bass effect, but despite the song’s similarities to the aforementioned EP, it also doesn’t lean far enough in that direction to make use of the song writing here.
Another favourite of mine is “I’ve never paid a toll on the garden state parkway.”, I am from New Jersey, myself, and I’ve always loved that one of my favourite bands in Can’t Swim were locals. I try to catch them every time they come to Asbury Park. And I love this track for similar reasons – it feels like home and speaks to me in a unique way. A lot of “state pride” songs feel pretty lifeless, but this one certainly does not. It’s passionate and an absolute ear worm.
Lastly, “thx but no thx” ends the album on a soft note, with LoPorto singing “it won’t be long till I’m gone. Don’t look through the lyrics, don’t sing to this song” among other cryptic, sober lyrics. That rounds off the album at just under 30 minutes, which is on the shorter side, even for a band with pretty short projects overall. Despite that, there is a lot of quality here as expected. I did not bring attention to a handful of tracks, as they did not stand out to me very much. And therein lies my main issue with this project – that it’s a tad less grandiose, and frankly, a bit worse than their previous full length albums. Can’t Swim’s first two LPs are among my favourites in the genre, and 2021’s Change of Plans was a top 5 release for me for that year. I struggle to accept that Thanks but No Thanks will settle similarly among my favourites, but there’s a lot of great Can’t Swim present here, and I will always be thankful for that.
7/10
Thanks but No Thanks is out this Friday, March 3rd, via Pure Noise Records.