A sudden feeling of optimism washed over fans when Yellowcard announced that they were back after taking a two-plus year hiatus and that they would be releasing their first album since 2007’s Paper Walls. After months and months of anticipation, Yellowcard is back and When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes brings the same punch in a better packaged form than Ocean Avenue, the band’s 2003 breakthrough record.
 
“The Sound Of You And Me” breaks down the flood doors to Yellowcard’s infectious sound as Sean Mackin’s trademark violin and LP’s hard-hitting drums keep the pace high enough for Ryan Key’s vocals to welcome the audience to one of Yellowcard’s best performances yet.
 
“For You, and Your Denial” and “With You Around” are some of the album’s best as they turn up the tempo even higher than the opener and feature more complex musical and lyrical parts. “With You Around” will, without a doubt, be When You’re Through Thinking’s most adored track because it’s the closest reminder of “Ocean Avenue” that the band has ever made and still is a beast of its own. Gritty guitar parts and Key’s vocals shine: “All I can think about is you and me driving with the Saves The Day record on // We were singing till our voices were gone,” an anthemic call big enough to break through the low-quality pop songs on the radio and be another Yellowcard chart-topping hit.
 
Yellowcard experiment with their slower side on songs like “Hang You Up” and “Sing For Me” and show just how much they’ve grown in the past few years by being able to truly pull off sounds that may not have fit on Paper Walls. The band doesn’t keep it slow for too long though as tracks like “Life Of Leaving Home” and “See Me Smiling” give the album new energy with guitar riffs that may send younger listeners right to their local guitar shop to learn how to mimic the work of Key and Ryan Mendez as best they can.
 
“Be The Young” brings a close to When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes with one of the most well-rounded songs on the record. Key sings, “Summer came and flew by twice as fast // It was close enough to feel // And after all this waiting for skies to fall // I need this to be real” in such an emotional state that it can only reassure fans that the growing the members of Yellowcard did while apart will only enable them to push forward together.
 
Paper Walls is undoubtedly the band’s best release as it showcased an evolved sound with the mixture of Ocean Avenue and Lights And Sounds, and while When You’re Through Thinking isn’t necessarily a step further in evolution, it certainly sounds like what many fans hoped the predecessor to Ocean Avenue would be: A fast paced pop-punk record with anthem after anthem of heartfelt lyrics and music.
 
****.5/*****