Blueline Medic was on Fueled by Ramen Records back when the label wasn’t just an incubator for the majors. Their first EP, A Working Title in Green, was a catchy little four-song exercise in Bad Religion and Jawbreaker-influenced indie rock and emo. Their last full-length, Text Bomb, was terrible. But The Apology Wars, which came out the same day as blink-182’s Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, is phenomenal.
But this album’s strength is not just in its poetic lyrics, though that is quite clearly its strongest point. The music is not only able, but captivating. Blueline Medic jumps from two or three-chord pop to guitar-heavy indie rock and almost Coldplay-esque moodiness in songs like “At Least We Had the War” (take it from someone who hates Coldplay, they make it work). Some moments (“Shuffle and Scrape”) suggest that the band takes some of the same influences as Jets to Brazil.
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