BETWEEN YOU & ME - ARMAGEDDON
Armageddon has been positioned to push Between Me & You into household name territory, a deserving title after years of consistently conceiving belters.
Between Me & You are keeping the pop punk scene of Melbourne alive and their sophomore album Armageddon only adds fuel to the scene's fire.
Jumping into the flames in 2016 with single ‘Cavalier’ and EP Paper Thin, spitting out ‘Overthinking’ in 2017, and releasing mammoth debut album Everything Is Temporary in 2018 whilst in turn making it completely socially acceptable to tell Dakota to “piss right off”, Between Me & You have steadily been adding coals to their pit and building up their following. Armageddon is bound to be their defining album.
What better way to start an album than with a good old amp hum and a light intro entree before launching into a heavy sonic meal. ‘Please To Meet You’ sets the pocket rocket tone for the ten track album, chockers with anthems. Meant for sing-alongs thanks to the repetitive ‘Take, take, take it back’ and ‘wake up, wake up go’ drills, ‘Please To Meet You’ has generous light and shake moments and solid guitar layers meant for the live setting. That sentiment continues with ‘Deadbeat’. From the classic Good Charlotte reminiscent big chorus, the epic breakdown and the little screamo nod of ‘Deadbeat Trashbeat’ chants, this track screams nostalgia making it an instant classic. Evidently, Between Me & You have an unparalleled ability to capture stadium sized energy; a testament to their defined production and maturity from angsty teen to well rounded adult.
There are some lighter, fluffy moments within the brutal sounding Armageddon including the summer shimmery, guitar whipping ‘Butterflies’, the musical theatre Brandon Urie sounding ‘Real World’ and the butter light ‘Better Days’. But the bounce back to anthemic annihilation is not far off.
The crisp ‘Change’ offers a mammoth final moment and classic clap along, acapella interval of pure happiness, whilst ‘Goldfish’ hits, bringing the breakup song energy we deserve in 2021, feeding the verbal spit “fucking suck my dick”. ‘Supervillians’ is a spooky belter giving life with an out-of-body guitar solo and ominous yet alluring keys.
The standout, however, comes in the form of modern day ‘If It Means A Lot To You’ from A Day To Remember and Sierra Ka of VersaEmerge. The pop punk duet of this generation is Between Me & You meets homegrown heroes Yours Truly. ‘Go To Hell’ has it all - the stunning vocal harmonies from Mikaila Delgado and Jake ‘JT’ Wilson, the Blink 182 drumming patterns, the big builds leading to the boisterous screamo roar and the final muffed outro. It’s a match made in Australian punk pop heaven and hits harder than permitted.
Jake continues to show off his pipes very fittingly for the final album track, the titular ‘Armageddon’. Taking it back down a notch as the fire embers simmer down, this serenading finish captures the rounded songwriting ability of the band and their diverse offering within the punk pop space. The fade out is stunning and the perfect way to finish a huge album.
Armageddon has been positioned to push Between Me & You into household name territory, a deserving title after years of consistently conceiving belters and they’ve done so without the Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis cinematic cliches.
Tammy Walters
★★★★☆