The pop-punk genre is beautiful in its simplicity. Rather than revolve around technical guitar licks and perfect harmonization of sounds, pop-punk thrives on the exact opposite: simple guitar chords, off-beat drumming and vocals that many would not find appealing. To really stand out in the genre, then, a band must somehow take these simple tools and do something new with them. In their latest album, It Never Goes Out, members of The Hotel Year showed that they have potential to do just that. While this album has several slows, a few stolid moments signal that The Hotel Year could be here to stay.

The opening song, “Our Lives Would Make a Sad, Boring Movie” captures most of the band’s strengths and weaknesses. After opening up with angst-filled, rhythmic screams, the song settles into a high-energy protest against everyday life. The lyrics “We say everyday that we won’t grow up to live the lives that they do, // Yet we only walk on footsteps that they set for us” jump out of the song, both for their insight and impressive delivery. Towards the song’s end, however, the tone becomes preachy and patronizing, with The Hotel Year going so far as to tell “white, middle-class, suburban kids” what they should be doing with their lives.

While this condescending attitude is present throughout much of the album, the quality of the songs generally makes up for it. The Hotel Year really hit their stride in the middle of It Never Goes Out. “Lonely Hearts Club” shows off a new side of the band, complete with a country-like guitar twang and a more upbeat sound. “An Ode to the Nine Ratz Club” and “Weathered” are easily the highlights of the album. While most of the previous lyrics had focused mostly on emotion and opinions, both of these songs succeed in telling vivid stories.

This is another weakness of The Hotel Year—they tend to tell the listener too much and show too little. The best bands in the genre, meanwhile, explain all of these personal attributes through stories. Rather than whining “you can’t fix me because I’m so burnt out,” like The Hotel Year did in “Vacancy,” The Wonder Years or Man Overboard might have painted a lyrical picture to connect with their listener in that same way.

It Never Goes Out was full of ups and downs, and members of The Hotel Year have a lot to learn. Luckily for them, you can learn to be a better songwriter. You can learn to be less patronizing. When it comes to abilities that are more difficult to possess—a keen sense of rhythm, a great voice, and a unique, entertaining sound—The Hotel Year is already wildly successful. Their first album sounded great and, as long as they continue to work on developing their songwriting, the future looks bright for The Hotel Year.

*This review was composed by Brendan Smith