Waterparks “FANDOM” is a deep cutting, hard hitting album

Almost exactly a year ago, Waterparks released their third studio album FANDOM, their first record recorded with Hopeless.

It was the album that was unexpected. Frontman Awsten Knight announced on March 26th via Twitter that he had deleted all of the files for the planned third album. The reasoning behind this was because Knight had “thought a lot on the last tour and has different things to say now.”

After having a year to get acquainted with FANDOM, it has become increasingly obvious that these tracks are about a multitude of different things. From changing sounds, to the pressure of being looked up to by others, relationships, and going through breakups, FANDOM has something to offer for every story.

Let’s take a look at a few of the songs on the fifteen-track album.

FANDOM opens with “Cherry Red”, a minute-and-change song that sets the stage for the record. It’s a quick but loud, explosive song even though the electronics make it sound weirdly calming and slow. It’s a great contrast from the quick and rough guitar notes. It’s sort of like the prologue to the album.

It feeds into “Watch What Happens Next”, one of the singles that came out ahead of the release. Knight said to Rock Sound:

“It’s about, in the same regard, how bands aren’t allowed to experiment as much with music as other kinds of people. This isn’t me shitting on it – this is me saying we should be allowed to do it. But hip-hop albums that I really love are super fuckin’ artsy, and if a band were to do that it would be like, ‘What the fuck are y’all doing?’ because when a band switches up the tiniest little thing, [fans] are not about it at all.”

The guitar is the absolute star here. The opening riff is catchy and draws you in. It’s a fast song and has a melody that can get stuck in your head.

“Dream Boy” is about fan expectations. It’s definitely more of the new sound Knight was hinting to in the previous song. The electronic sound fits in really well here. The lyrics are meant to be taken literally. The drums are loud and carry the song in the pop-punk way that we all know and love.

“Easy To Hate” is a song about a breakup. How easy it is to hate the person you were once close to in a romantic way. It describes the breakdown of a relationship and the tail end of that experience. It feels deeply personal. The lyrics and the story they are sharing is the thing that stands out here. The harmonies at the end of the song are amazing and the drums again shine through in a really nice way.

“High Definition” is another deeply personal song written by Knight. He states:

“It’s about not being able to get close to people, because of what we do, being gone all the time. Or, you know, starting to have some kind of stature and not trusting the people who hit you up, because people may not have done so much before.”

“Turbulent” is the angriest song on the album. It’s a breakup song, but it goes so much deeper than that. The lyrics are angry, the drums are very fast, and the guitar is slow as it builds to the chorus. It provides a nice contrast between the anger and emotion of the song. It is deeply emotional and deeply angry, but the contrast the instruments create with the words works very well here. (It sounds super cohesive, even if I made it sound like it doesn’t).

The band also performed it live in the UK and it went absolutely crazy. You can watch it here.

Not only does “I Miss Having Sex But At Least I Don’t Want To Die Anymore” have a silly title, but it sounds a bit silly musically. It has electronic music backing it, along with an acoustic guitar. It definitely is not a common pairing but it creates a great song. This was another single released ahead of the album. Knight says that the song title and the meaning is very literal. It is a light song in contrast to some of the other songs and it provides a break from the heavy topics like heartbreak.

“Worst” is an acoustic song with a really solid backbeat. Knight is almost rapping on the verses and takes the choruses to take his time and sing to get his message across. It’s personally one of my favorites on the record.

FANDOM ends on “I Felt Younger When We Met”, which brings the album full circle. It is very similar to “Cherry Red” in the way that it is made up sonically. This song though, is an absolute banger. I’m not afraid to say it. I think that this song is the best on the album. It’s a great one to end on. The lyrics again are deeply personal and the electronic beat carry the pop-punkness of the song really well. The sudden and abrupt end to the lyrics gives me chills every time.

Overall, FANDOM is another Waterparks album that is great. These guys are so good at what they do and no matter how much they change their sound, it always comes out really well done.

Let me know your thoughts after you listen, I’d love to hear them!

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