ATP! Album Review: A Rocket To The Moon – Wild & Free

What makes music fun? Evidently it’s not by having fun in a band’s name and hours of brainstorming might produce a thousand good ideas in theory that become only half a good idea in practice. Whatever it is in music that inspires smiles however, it’s clear that A Rocket To The Moon have it, and Wild & Free is a great example of how musicians can best capture the spirit of youth and put it to music. In a sense then, the title of this album is perfect for its sound, and despite the fact that this is most definitely a pop album, it would be difficult for even the biggest snobs in music to not find at least one thing they enjoy about this record.

The album has its share of incredibly cheesy lines (along with shalala's and mwah's) in the utterly cringe-inducing ‘Whole Lotta You,’ but as soon as that track is over ‘Ever Enough’ more than makes up for it by being both heartfelt and possessing some incredibly powerful instrumentation. In fact, the only real weaknesses of this album come from over-simplistic lyrics, which are almost enough of a feature of the style to be overlooked. It does at times threaten to pull the listener out of the song however, which considering the strengths of what remains of the songs when they are taken away is a shame.

Each of the songs are technically strong as well as emotionally powerful. Every track feels as carefully crafted as a ship in a bottle, and the result is a mesmerising collection of spirited and contagious songs, most of which are tenacious enough to stand alone.

4/5

Edward Strickson

Wild & Free is out now via Fueled By Ramen.