A new addition to Patent Pending's slick & catchy brand of power pop

Riot Hearts Rebellion

Patent Pending

Patent Pending are not a new band by any means having formed in 2001 but they really seem to have hit their stride with this slickly produced & catchy new album. The band from Long Island New York started small with a self produced EP & now have five studio albums & to their credit.

The new album 'Riot Hearts Rebellion' is full of upbeat youthful energy, it starts off with 'Another Day' which has an anthemic quality & is just waiting to be blasted out over a huge arena or a festival. It seems a bit of an odd opening track to me as the rest of the album has a much more radio friendly power pop feel to it, 'Riot hearts rebellion' is a work full of infectious tracks that are pleasantly memorable & that you find yourself humming days later.

The stand out track for me is 'Love is Anarchy' which is super catchy & ear-worms itself into your brain, it is power pop at its absolute best.

Patent Pending promote a very upbeat & empowering message which encourages self belief & a positive attitude in a good way without it sounding trite or like your mum nagging you. There is some pretty good advice here aimed at teens I guess but its pertinent for older listeners too. for instance 'NSFW (.)(.)' quite rightly suggests it is probably a really bad idea to put naked pictures of yourself on social media. The band manage really quite well to keep the message fun & humorous. 

Other memorable offerings include 'Little Diamonds' which is another favourite of mine mainly because of the cute lyrics: “Then I’m reminded life is beautiful by the light of a little miracle, looking up at me and all I see are little diamonds in her eyes so bright, they’re shining like a New York night, it doesn’t matter where I go they’re lighting up the way back home”.

'Dating a Dick' Is a sort of doo-wop US high school prom night ballad & of course there is the title track 'Riot Hearts Rebellion' which seems written for & aimed at the bands fans & which they will love.

I must admit that at the moment I do prefer the Patent Pending's 2013 album 'Brighter' especially the inspired 'Hey Mario' but on repeated listening 'Riot Hearts Rebellion' Is a grower & I find myself reaching for it over & over. And, once again, Patent Pending show us how versatile they are & that they have the ability to write & play in a wide variety of styles from Motown inspired tracks to Pop Punk (which is just about as far from the nihilistic Punk of my youth as you can get).

A great album to play in the car, there is no way you can feel stressed or uptight listening to this!

COMMENTS

• Nathan Roach
  I wouldn't say their material is my cup of tea, but it is definitely a brand of music that some people can really de-stress to after a long day of seriousness.