Simple Plan

Harder Than It Looks

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ft. Deryck Whibley.
Genre: Pop Punk.
Released: 06/05/2022

Album Review: Simple Plan – Harder Than It Looks

Simple Plan have been a staple in the Pop-Punk ever since they formed back in 1999. Starting off by making a name for themselves during the MTV era of Pop-Punk to evolving into the more modern style, the band have always had their fans by their side. With the release of their latest album ‘Harder Than It Looks’ receiving so much attention in the scene, I just had to check it out. Here are my thoughts on the new release.

‘Wake Me Up (When This Nightmare’s Over)’ kicks the album off in a very familiar fashion. The song instantly mimics the “Simple Plan” sound and as for the music itself, it’s a bubbly pop-punk track full to the brim with all the motivation you could ever want. Starting on a more positive note is probably a great idea before dropping straight into a track titled ‘Ruin My Life’. Boasting an explosive feature from Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley that really ties the whole song together, this track is a nice blend of both modern and old school pop-punk which is sure to captivate the minds of many fans.

Following on from that is ‘The Antidote’ which is a heartwarming track telling the story of someone who has found that person who makes all the bad feel better. Of course, some of the lyrics are cheesy and corny but that’s exactly what you’d expect from a track like this. ‘Million Pictures Of You’ is a no-nonsense pop-punk track that could blend into the background of any early 2000’s skater game, while ‘Anxiety’ unsurprisingly underlines the struggles of someone who suffers from anxiety. The use of reverb to mimic voices in one’s head is a very creative touch that I personally found quite interesting.

Moving on through the record and ‘Congratulations’ is a classic passive-aggressive track that boasts an insanely catchy instrumental. This isn’t a song that takes a lot of risks however it is almost exactly what you’d expect from a Simple Plan song in 2022. As the album draws closer to an end, ‘Iconic’ falls slightly shy of the mark for me. It isn’t a bad song per se however it just falls a little flat in comparison to the rest of the album. If I had to compare it to another style of song, I’d say it was almost a BTEC ‘Centuries’ by Fall Out Boy. Thankfully ‘Best Day Of My Life’ returns to a more upbeat and chaotic style that will blow a live crowd out of the water!

The penultimate track ‘Slow Motion’ utilises a lot of new vocal effects to create a more distinguished style from the rest of the record. A simplistic yet dominant drum track really helps to elevate this one to a higher standard. Closing out the album is the track ‘Two’. The staple Pop-Punk album ballad comes at the very end of the record this time and, to be honest, it’s just alright. It doesn’t break any boundaries and does its job to a high enough standard not to feel out of place

As a whole, this new album has a lot of quality tracks that will please existing fans of the genre. Simple Plan doesn’t stray away from the style they have perfected over the years so I cant see this album wowing a lot of people who aren’t existing fans of Pop-Punk.