Lonely Road by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

For all their attempts to look like a hardcore alternative band, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus produce surprisingly light and highly enjoyable emo-rock on their new album, Lonely Road.

“You Better Pray,” the opening track, was an excellent choice for the album’s first single, because it’s different to the sound the band had on their previous album, with a much edgier feel, so it makes sure that everyone knows RJA is back and their new album will deliver the goods.

“No Spell” and “Pen & Paper” dial the edginess back a bit, but rock no less than the previous track did. “Step Right Up”, is a gem right in the middle of the album, epitomizing a modern alternative tune, with a slow start but a quick build-up to a melodic and catchy chorus – it’s definitely one of the more repeatable songs on the album.

The band slows the tempo down on “Believe,” a sweeping plea for everyone to believe in the good in the world because everyone’s “stuck in it together”. It luckily doesn’t get boring or feel overdone, like many of these sort of songs do.

The title track is also a killer tune, which starts out slowly, but ends up with a rock-infused chorus verse chanting the last part, with a really electric guitar accompaniment. “Senioritis” picks the pace of the album back up, also emerging as one of the star tracks on the CD. The only disappointing thing about this one is that, at just over two minutes, it definitely ends too quickly.

And finally, the band close the album out with “Godspeed,” an overtly patriotic marching song about a single soldier’s plight to get back to his loved ones. It doesn’t really fit in with the sound of the rest of the album, and won’t get fans jumping up and down in the arenas, but it’s a nice song to listen to nevertheless.

Lonely Road is, overall, a top-class record that all alt-music fans should buy now. It’s bound to put this relatively new band onto a very un-lonely road to the top.