“A Friend” is the latest single by The Sons Of James, an outstanding Floridian band. The song deals with self-forgiveness and repairing broken friendships while keeping a positive attitude. It’s their third piece of work in 2024, serving as a proper follow-up to “The Real You” and “Against My Will,” two excellent tracks we previously covered on our pages. For those stumbling upon this superb band for the first time, The Sons Of James nurture a fresh, unique, innovative sound based upon contemporary and retro melodic punk rock with the additional elements borrowed from similar music genres like skate punk, pop-punk, skater rock, indie rock, etc. Their music continuously levitates between modern and nostalgic nineties punk rock sound, but they surely know how to spice things up with those additional elements. Therefore, their songs always sound so catchy, memorable, engaging, and worth spinning over and over again. That’s the case with “A Friend,” a magnificent number that will immediately end up on your punk rock playlist.
As usual, these folks are not joking around with their music. Every element incorporated in this track sounds precise and tight, ensuring a pleasant listening experience for even the pickiest melodic punk rock fans. “A Friend” has a perfect structure, garnered with detailed segments, brilliant ideas, and outstanding orchestrations, capable of convincing even those not interested in this particular music genre to spin this track over again. You’ll immediately notice how the impressive vocal performance commands attention and guides your ears on this marvelous sonic journey while simultaneously emphasizing all the segments and decorations. These vocal harmonies seamlessly balance between low, mid, and high notes, sticking like glue to the sonic support. In the meantime, the interplay between rhythm and lead guitar serves as an adequate backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll hear how catchy, memorable, engaging leads, themes, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic harmonies shine on one side while the cleverly assembled riffs and chord progressions resonate on the other. As usual, vocals and guitars match together harmoniously, shaping a cathartic ambiance that will suit every listening apparatus.
The bass guitar propels those guitars to new heights by offering more than necessary heftiness, clearness, and deepness while simultaneously binding guitars with drums. These equally intricate, audible, warm-sounding basslines roar right beneath the guitars, serving as a backbone alongside rhythmic patterns. Speaking of the rhythm section, you’ll notice how expertly assembled, flawlessly performed, dynamic, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive maneuvers keep everything together while dictating groove and tempo. The Sons Of James sound superb from scratch to finish, proving they’re one of the best bands on the contemporary melodic punk rock scene. Their clever lyricism, brilliant ideas, and exceptional musicianship never cease to amaze. “A Friend” is one of those songs that immediately grabs your attention and refuses to let go thanks to tremendous experience and knowledge incorporated into the song’s core. It will surely become your go-to track whenever you need catchy, memorable, engaging melodic punk rock music. The single is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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