Waterparks - Entertainment

"Entertainment" is the second album by Waterparks who are a three piece from Houston, Texas.  Although they just have 2 albums at present, they have actually been around since 2011. But it wasn't until 2016 when they released their debut "Double Dare" after releasing a string of EPs.  I haven't had a chance to listen to that album yet but it seems "Double Dare" did provide a launch pad for the band, winning Best Breakthrough act in the Alternative press awards and Best International Breakthrough act in the Rocksound awards both in 2017. Considering it was just 2016 they released their last album, it is quite an impressive turnaround, releasing "Entertainment" so quickly. But was quality comprimised?

I don't think so. When the opening keyboards of "11:11" kick in, in the first track, you do wonder what type of album this is going to be if you have never heard of Waterparks before. But the keyboards are replaced early on with guitars, creating fun, pop-punk goodness. It is the kind of sounds that bring me back to my younger days when the likes of Blink 182, Green Day and Busted were tearing up the charts during the late nineties, early noughties. "Blonde", "Lucky people" and "Not Warrior" are the singles to be released from the album so far. "Blonde" is a particularly catchy anthem with an infectious chorus as Knight sings "It's all about you, who woo who woo". "Lucky people" is a nice acoustic number while "Not Warrior" is another fun bit of punk rock.

One awkward moment on the album occurs during "Rare" which is a good track. But I think it's the production that is letting this down, either that or my music player is playing up!  It has these moments as if the volume is being turned up and down throughout the song.  As I say though it's a shame as it is a good song.

But I think that is really the only part of the album I have any issues. The album comes in at 33 minutes with 10 songs. Which you would expect from this type of band. Lots of catchy 3 minute songs. It is strange because I have been known to enjoy longer songs more but on this album my two favourite songs off it are actually the 2 shortest songs on the album.  These are "TANTRUM" and "Cry Baby". The reason for this is because they show off some different sides to Waterparks. "TANTRUM" is a bit heavier than the rest of the stuff, a bit reminisent of SUM41. More shouty and aggressive. I really like it. "Cry Baby" on the other hand is polar opposite and is more like the opening chords of "11:11" but throughout the whole song.  The first band I thought of when listening to this was some of Death cab for cutie's more upbeat, electronic stuff.  Knight's vocals on this track are brilliant and the song in general has such a good feeling about it.

Overall this is a very good album and the short time it took them to release it has not comprimised its quality.  Although predominatley a pop-punk album. "Cry baby" and "TANTRUM" show that the band have the talent to move in all sorts of directions with their music in the future and I definitley think this is a band worth keeping an eye on. Like any band they have their influnences but I really feel they have created a record which is quite refreshing.