Album Review: Hawk Nelson - Crazy Love

With their fifth effort, 'Crazy Love', Christian pop-punk band Hawk Nelson have been quoted as saying that 'Crazy Love' is a complete throwback to their first album 'Letters to the President' and the punk aesthetic that is shown on this album has clearly been extracted from their debut. Despite them being perhaps the poppiest and most radio-friendly band on the Tooth & Nail collective, they are known to be good friends with label-mates and christian rap metal troubadors Thousand Foot Crutch.

'Tally-Ho' sounds like a straight-up old school punk song lead by frontman Jason Dunn constantly repeating "Tally-tally ho, tally tally ho-ho" wedged inbetween a pounding drum kit and a guitar riff that would blend in on an Andrew WK album. However misleading the opening track may be, the next track 'Your Love is a Mystery' contradicts it by opening up with a wailing synthesizer akin to something you'd have heard Metro Station produce, it's awkward to listen to at first but eventually becomes a catchy song in the sense that you'd probably keep it secret or as a guilty pleasure.

'Skeleton' picks up the pace that the band set on 'Tally-Ho' which sounds like an eclectic mix of Blink-182 guitars mixed with Zebrahead's vocals "I'm just a skeleton without you now", the song seems short lived and clocking in at less than 3 minutes, you feel a bit let down by the synthesized strings leading into 'We Can Change the World'.

'LAX' really comes out of nowhere and mixes Hawk Nelson's punk side with a slight hint of screamo, the song is clearly a song done for fun and as Dunn screams "I hate airports I know they hate me, I know they jade me and that's my point". It's a side of the band that's comical and experimental that we don't expect to see much from in the future. The ending song 'Thanks for the Beautiful Memories' is a cute ode to the fans, reliving the story of the band coming together through song. The chorus is easily a singalong anthem and as the song moves into half-time towards the end of the song making it a perfect ending for 'Crazy Love'0.

'Crazy Love' is filled with hidden gems but is surrounded by a lot of songs which just sound out of their comfort zone. The synth-pop sound alongside the punk aesthetic really contradicts each other, due to being sandwiched between each other in the tracklisting, and at times, the synth-pop sound can sound incredibly awkward and out of Hawk Nelson's comfort song, but they do the best they can. On the terms of originality, Hawk Nelson bring nothing new to the table but instead hash out fun and safe music.

3/5

'Crazy Love' by Hawk Nelson is available now on Tooth & Nail Records.

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George Gadd