After 20 years as a band,
Yellowcard bid a fond farewell with their tenth and final album. The sense of finality is palpable and lends such emotion to the album that it may unleash the waterworks for fans who have stayed with the band for decades. The ten-song parting gift will no doubt please the faithful, as each song was written with the end in mind. Picking through the lyrics, snapshots like "slow steady hands waving their last goodbye," "we don't have to say goodbye!," and "this is goodbye" really lay it on thick. Yet
Yellowcard never feels treacly or forced. It's emo for grownups and a proper close for a band that wanted to go out on its own terms. The exciting moments on
Yellowcard reveal the band's matured sound, evoking
Jimmy Eat World or
Acceptance on emo-punk gems like "Got Yours" and "Savior's Robes."
Sean Mackin's signature violin is also employed at key moments -- front and center on the bright "Rest in Peace," "What Appears," and the devastating "Empty Street" -- providing as much comforting familiarity as pastoral warmth. As a bittersweet goodbye, it's appropriate that much of
Yellowcard is restrained and patient, like the heartfelt beauty of "Leave a Light On" and the acoustic "I'm a Wrecking Ball." However, the real arrow to the heart is saved for the final track, "Fields & Fences." Clocking in at seven minutes of sheer sentiment, it's essentially the very last thing the bandmembers --
Ryan Key,
Ryan Mendez,
Josh Portman, and
Mackin -- want listeners/fans to hear from
Yellowcard. As the last notes of the mandolin evaporate into the atmosphere, the Jacksonville stalwarts have already exited the stage. The faces in the audience might be soaked in tears, but after ten albums and 20 years,
Yellowcard have left an enduring mark on the modern punk scene.
Yellowcard is a near-perfect close to their story. ~ Neil Z. Yeung
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