Now that I’ve gone through Don Broco’s entire discography (in reverse order because why not), I can now officially declare that I’m obsessed with these guys. Just ask my sister. She’s sick of it already.
Last in the queue was the bands debut album, Priorities. Somewhat similar to Automatic, this album gave off some very, very strong pop punk vibes. That’s why it’s still crazy to me that this was only released in 2012. Sure, I was still (and still am) on the emo bandwagon, so this album would have been loved by me regardless, but I think the rest of the world was done listening to it. Emo is suddenly now making a resurgence, which is beyond strange to me, but I’m happy about it. Either way, it just feels like Priorities came out in a time when there wouldn’t have been the proper amount of respect for it.
And let me tell you what, this album is the pinnacle of pop punk. Unlike their sophomore follow-up, this debut has a bit more grit to it with less smoothed over bits. Even though the sound is a bit rougher, looking back on how these guys presented themselves back then was kind of hilarious. The world’s tightest pants (not upset about it), quaffed hair, and the peppiest polos. It’s the polo shirts that really got me. Such a disconnect from what they were playing. Anyways, I digress, it’s just a product of the times. It’s also hard for me to wrap my head around that they made this record right after university! Good for them.
Since I ended up really enjoying Automatic, this album wasn’t as jarring to listen to out the gate. In fact, it was a really great album start to finish. Songs that I really liked were the title track, “Priorities,” “Whole Truth,” Yeah Man,” and “Fancy Dress.” The latter is probably my favorite because I love Matt’s vocals in it! He sounds truly 2005 pop-punk and I love it. In fact, the whole juxtaposition of Rob and Matt’s vocals scream 2005 pop-punk, and that’s probably why I’m so here for it. I will say, in looking down the track list before listening, “You Got It Girl” and “Let’s Go Back to School” were names that made me a little nervous. Thankfully they turned out to be nothing like I was anticipating!
Overall, this was another great album from another great band, and I continue to kick myself for not giving these guys a shot sooner. I could have already seen them live three times by now! Here’s hoping for a North American tour sometime next year.