MP3 Review: AWOLNATION "Run"

When "Megalithic Symphony" came out I was immediately drawn to it for the song "Sail", but I discovered a group of some of the best songs on there that had that pegged as one of my favorite albums for quite some time and even to this day it's one of my favorites that I still listen to regularly.    AWOLNATION's follow up is called "Run" and if you think it might not be as good then you need to give it a listen.

The songs are just as angry, as they cross paths between rock, synth and electronic.  Even a song like "Windows" can sound like hip-hop (some Eminem comes out for me) though "KOOKSEVERYWHERE!!" has that dark and heavy synth quality of Nine Inch Nails via "Wish" era.    And of course that doesn't stop a song from taking a break and becoming a piano laced ballad either.    It's beats, strings and melodies, which is a lot of what you only need in songs.

I don't feel like there was as much fanfare for "Run" as there was for "Megalithic Symphony" and I mean that only in the sense that as best as I can remember I've not heard any of these songs on the radio.   I just know that I somehow heard "Sail" on the radio when we still lived in Houston (94.5 the Buzz represent!) and maybe Radio 104 just won't play a new single here but I only found out about this album because I already know who AWOLNATION is now.

From "I am a human being capable of doing terrible things" to "I run away for a couple years just to prove I've never been free" the lyrics will have you singing along and for all of the parts of this that aren't pop I still can't help but singing along.   And yes, as I noted in my "Megalithic Symphony" review, I do still hear Little Richard in these songs.

The titular track is also the first one and in it, after the music initially pulls you in, it comes to a stop and the single word is spoken: "Run".   This reminds me for some reason of something Bray Wyatt would do and whether or not AWOLNATION are fans of the professional wrestling or this is merely a coincidence, it still makes this album that much better for me and, yes, this is full of my new summer jams.