From First to Last

Deemed "one of the only true punk bands left” by their label, From First To Last certainly aren’t afraid of the impending abuse that comes with making such a claim public. They should be. Only seconds into Heroine (their sophomore album), it’s apparent that they aren’t, in fact, truly punk at all, but merely cookie-cutter melodic hardcore/screamo/whatever the kids have tattooed on their wrists this week. Albeit they bring the "MTV punk” louder than kings of this sub-genre, My Chemical Romance, but without any of the wit or the hooks MCR filter throughout their songs to, you know, earn fans, FFTL are basically all crunchy guitars, melodramatic screaming and black hair dye, eyeliner, nail polish, etc. In fact, so generic are these Floridians that in updating their sound from 2004’s Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count all they’ve done is swap the album’s more emo/pop punk design for something more aggressive on Heroine, much like the trend in (commercial) punk has swayed. Funny, that a "punk” band go with the grain and not against it. Consider them the "bargain bin My Chemical Romance” and nothing more.