Serving up the raw aggression and neon tinted beauty of youth ‘Only After’ takes a nostalgic look back on the formative years and power of the music that influenced us. It draws heavily on the influences of those experiences and mixes it with the slightly more modern, mature, and dissonant sound of the wisdom of age that comes with the wisdom of age.
There is a feral and unchained energy that rides on the top of the roaring guitar riff at the centre of the sound. It balances beautifully off of the bittersweet melody that breaks through the bravado of the verses to drip a more sombre note into the chorus.
Lyrically it’s a poetic sentiment, taking the light with the dark and finding the beauty that exists in both. It speaks of the volume and flavours that seem so much brighter and more real in our youth. Just as the first kiss seems so much sweeter, the bands we used to connect with seem so much more powerful.
It’s incredibly accomplished song writing both in structure and in theme. It has a classical punk progression at its heart, but the soul dabbles a little more experimentally with proggier influences that see the sound shattered and pieced back together like a mosaic, dazzling with the beauty of the breaks.
On The Cinder are a band not afraid to break out of the mould with a powerful punch that leaves an impact. It is measured and magnificent, masterfully done and it lifts them high above most in the pop-punk sphere by virtue of their lyricism and attention to the soundscape and structure of their songs.
Words by Matt Miles
