What It Is to Burn
What It Is to Burn brings together bright melodies and a much rougher edge without losing its sense of direction. Finch give their pop punk enough heavy guitar and shouted vocals to make the changes in mood count. Nate Barcalow can carry a clean melody or increase the pressure with harsher delivery, helping the songs move between those approaches naturally.
New Beginnings introduces that balance with a strong chorus and a quieter passage before the band return with more force. The rhythm section keeps the shifts active, giving the opening more character than a simple alternation between soft verse and loud hook. Letters to You follows with a more immediate melodic appeal.
Grey Matter makes better use of the heavier side. Its guitar parts work around each other instead of leaving all the interest to one lead line. Daryl Palumbo's guest voice adds another point of tension, creating a useful contrast with Barcalow rather than merely making the song louder.
Project Mayhem pushes that approach further. Harsh voices, guitar noise and programmed details give it a restless energy that stands apart from the cleaner songs. Its extended ending is less effective, however, repeating the force after the main ideas have already made their impression.
Without You Here provides a welcome change of scale. The softer setting lets the melody carry more weight, giving the record some breathing room between its heavier moments. Perfection Through Silence then shows how well the band can combine quick guitar work, active drums and a more aggressive bridge.
The whole sequence is less consistent than those highlights suggest. Awake does not have the same impact as the songs around it, and a few tracks rely on familiar emo and pop punk gestures. Ender develops its quieter mood patiently, but the long ending stretches the material beyond its strongest point.
Even with that excess, What It Is to Burn has a convincing musical identity. The melodic and abrasive parts usually strengthen each other, while the guitar partnership and varied vocal delivery give the best songs real purpose. Finch make an engaging debut whose strongest moments have enough energy and melody to carry the weaker stretches.
