Album Reviews

Thanks to No Idea Records, Fest and the general awesomeness of Hot Water Music, Gainesville will probably be associated with gruff punk until the city has once again become a swampy wasteland. But just because a city is known for one thing, that doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t spawn something else as well. Enter You Vandal with their brand spanking new album, ‘Pretend I Don’t Exist’.

On the follow-up to 2017’s ‘I Just Want To Go Back To Hell,’ these Floridians take everything they like about melodic punk rock and pop-punk leaving out the parts that make youngsters use words like ‘cringe’. So yeah, no New Found Glory levels of awkwardness to be found on here. Just a dozen songs worth of slick melodies, catchy singalong choruses and tons of energy.