SONG REVIEW: Vale Amore - "Sundays In Hell"
Vale Amore channeling the inner teenage angst I didn’t know I still had with, “Sundays In Hell”
by Jesse Smith
Growing up with Pop Punk on MTV and on the radio in my mom's car, there is a sound and sense that is nostalgic to that time. When I hear Blink 182, I can almost smell the cigarettes my mom used to smoke and the way I just wanted to be left alone. Even back then, pop punk had almost multiple different genres within that genre but it was more driven by bands. Do you sound like Blink or Sum 41? Simple Plan of NFG? Personally as a kid I loved it all and in the last 2 years the Blink side of pop punk has really come back swinging, thanks Travis. But to me, recently at least there hasn’t been a full band to capture that feeling. It has been cross over rappers and solo artists that have basic beats to their songs, que Vale Amore.
Vale Amore, the modern pop punk band from Michigan has really crafted the bridge between modern and throwback. From the first verse, It is typical pop punk rhetoric but the delivery makes it truly hit like a fist. “It all sucks and I’m never sober”... relatable. Getting to the goods rather quickly it feels, the build up to that first chorus is almost filled with anticipation because that is what this genre is known for, those big anthem choruses, and Vale Amore hit that homerun. For starters, the transition into the pre chorus brings the guitar up a little and catches you a little off guard in a good way. You know when you hear it that when they wrote that one specific part they collectively went “oh that’s good”. You can feel the momentum shifting into the chorus that I think shows the best in the band. With a tiny fake out in the pre chorus, bringing the vibe down before exploding into a toe tapping, head nodding hook that will be stuck in your head for days. “You look like Sundays, and I sound like heart break” really got me in that mood like I was back in my mom's car and smelling the smoke.
In modern pop punk, the new blood that has been getting a lot of attention I feel have all started to shift to live bands, at least when performing. It is evolving back to full band presences that I feel has been missing as we bridge the gap between underground music and mainstream. Bands like Vale Amore are going to be super important, keeping the roots of the underground scene true and not letting mainstream artist dismantle the core of what pop punk is. Don’t get me wrong, I love the new stuff coming out from let’s say Lil Huddy, Kennyhoopla, and artist of the sort, and I think that they are the start for bands like Vale Amore to really bring it back home and with the new song “Sundays In Hell” I believe it has already pulled back into the driveway.