A day late. Sorry.
When I put out my call for submissions last week, I knew I could get just about anything. The first three submissions that came in were virtually brand new. 2 albums and a single that had all been released in the last month. New Jersey's Break Away submitted the fourth entry. Their album Malaga celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
Over the last decade, I personally had never come across Break Away; so I headed over to the band's Facebook page to find out more. I was surprised to discover that, in addition to members Joe Boldizar (drums), Barry Knob (guitar, vocals, keys), and Mac (vocals, guitar, piano), the band featured a young bass player named Joe Pulito. Pulito currently plays an important role in the Jersey / Philly music scene as honcho at Aftermath Collective. OK. An album celebrating a milestone, featuring a familiar name. I can work with this.
Malaga comes with a backstory: In 2004, the members of Break Away needed a new place to live. They settled on an apartment at the back of an abandoned ice cream shop situated precariously close to a stretch of busy highway. The band wanted to take control of their next recording; so they built the abandoned retail space into a studio and began the long process of recording Malaga. Along the way, they got help from friends and friends of friends to produce what would finally become the album.
The album opens with "Who Put You up to This?" It's a loud, melodic, pop punk reflection on the ways we and those around us change over time. It closes with the sounds of cars whizzing by, a reminder of where the album was born. "Nice Place to Visit" continues the theme of lost innocence or growing out of your old self. The sounds of strings and keyboards add to the melancholy.
"Grey Keys" mixes power chords and piano into something anthemic. Once again, we're in that transitional space between childhood and adulthood. On "Hurry Up and Die!" age also brings complacency. "...your rebel soul has disappeared." "You're Not Responding" paints the picture of a young adulthood in which drinking and substance abuse have gone beyond something recreational.
Malaga is a collection of anthems about the loss of youth, the loss of innocence, and the encroaching bitterness of adulthood. It's all delivered with fist-pumping emotion in a combination of pop punk, post hardcore, and Jersey romance. It would be interesting to hear how the guys feel about all of this 10 years on. I'll have to ask Joe Pulito next time I'm at one of the shows he's booked.
Malaga, along with the rest of the band's back catalog, is available for free over at Break Away's Bandcamp page.
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