Veara – What We Left Behind Review

Last month was my first experience with Georgia-bred pop-punk band Veara. They were the opening band for A Day To Remember on their Toursick 2010 run of dates (A Day To Remember Toursick Concert Review) and completely caught me by surprise.

As I said in that review, most opening bands are pretty average in comparison to the rest of the more-established lineup.

However, Veara could have very easily switched places with any of the other bands on that bill and fit in perfectly.

During their set, Brad (lead vocalist) announced that on May 25th they would be releasing What We Left Behind on Epitaph Records (There is a release party for it Saturday the 22nd, follow either of the links below to get more info on that). Since that announcement, I’d been waiting anxiously to get my hands on a copy of the album; and that day happened to be yesterday afternoon.

Since that point, I’m pretty sure I have listened to the album straight through four times.

Here is the formula for Veara:

Best parts of All Time Low’s So Wrong, It’s Right
+ A Day To Remember’s melodies
- Jeremy’s screams and any metal influences found in ADTR’s music
+ group vocals
+ 1 basket of peaches

VEARA

The record was produced by Jeremy McKinnon (lead singer of A Day To Remember), so if you think it has ‘that sound’ to it, that would be why. That being said, having ‘that sound’ is by no means a bad thing. They are not trying to be an ADTR clone – or even wanna-be. These guys are sticking to the realm of pop-punk.

The album kicks off with ‘We Have a Body Count’, the shortest track on the album (beating out ‘Only Famous People Get Famous’ by one measly second), and giving a great indication of what’s to come. The third track, ‘My B-Side Life’, has a music video in the works, so be on the lookout for that. It’s also one of the catchiest songs on the album – a tough title to claim on an album like this. I embedded that song below, check it out.

‘Waste My Time’ is a classic pop-punk track about the exact subject that you would expect…dealing with someone who is nothing but a waste of your time. ‘Role Model’ has a chorus with advice that everyone should be able to use: “I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve used them well/At least I’ve never tried to play the part of someone else…staying honest is the hardest part.”

All the songs stick to around the 3:30 mark or less, and there aren’t any five-minute-long ballads on the album…both of which are fine by me. For awhile there it seemed like it was mandatory for every album, no matter the genre, to have some kind of long, sappy ballad on it. In comparison, What We Left Behind will keep you tapping your foot and nodding your head throughout all 30:35 of it.

While I have to admit that I did not see any of the sites that listed Veara as one of the ‘Top Bands to Watch for in 2010′, it doesn’t surprise me one bit that they were listed as such.

Jeremy had better watch his back – if they keep releasing albums like this, ADTR might be opening for them in the future.

For more information on Veara, visit the Veara MySpace Page and the Veara Facebook Page.

Here is a sample of what to expect from What We Left Behind:

Veara – My B-Side Life

All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.