Seven years after mega hit ‘Sail’, AWOLNATION have released their third studio album Here Come The Runts in an attempt to reach the same degree of success once more.
On the first listen, Here Come The Runts didn’t convey what it takes to even come close to the multiplatinum artist’s breakthrough single ‘Sail’, but practise makes perfect and with every listen the songs grew on us more.
Compared to 2015’s technical, almost robot-like album Run, AWOLNATION’s latest release feels far more natural. Guitar based, Rock n’ Roll meets Pop, real playing and no tuned vocals, reflecting the coastal mountain range home studio in which Aaron Bruno created this third album. ‘Handyman’, their third teaser single and one of our favourites on the record, reflects this feeling most with Bruno’s sensitive vocals and tender and thoughtful lyrics. If only yesterday took place tomorrow / I’d pray for sleep / And wake you and lift your head / So I can fix your hand / I’ll be your handyman
As an album, Here Come The Runts has a lot of elements that account for confusion on the first listen, but with every listen these confusions transform into pleasant little surprises. For example, title track ‘Here Come The Runts’ first felt like the audio-definition of complete confusion and feeling lost, but has the potential of being a massive crowd-puller played live at festivals, lead single ‘Passion’ is repetitive and simplistic in choruses but has groovy verses and ‘Seven Stick Of Dynamite’ is stripped back to a relatively simple guitar accompaniment with Bruno singing in falsetto throughout most of the song.
The album gets split in half by a short, 31 second interlude, ‘A little Luck And A Couple Of Dogs’, which is a welcome little surprise acting as an almost humorous little break to the 14-track release. All my friends have children / I have a couple dogs / All my friends have children / I have a couple songs / They say I can’t relate / And I’m not sure they are wrong / Now all I need is you / A little luck and a couple dogs
In the end, Here Come The Runts is a solid and worthwhile third album that unfortunately takes quite some time and effort to fully appreciate, but we’re sure that fans will be willing to spin the album a few times extra to discover it in its fullest potential.
Rating out of 10: 6/10
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