Higher Lonely Power – Fireworks

Fireworks are back with their first record since 2014’s Oh, Common Life. It sounds like this album, or perhaps an earlier version of it, was supposed to be released in 2020, however was delayed due to the pandemic. In late 2019 the band released the single “Demitasse”, which never really captured me, even though it was an obvious major departure from the band’s previous pop-punk records. I recall thinking at the time “woah, I’ll sit down with this more when the entire album is out” simply because if the single was as much of a departure as the rest of the album, I knew I’d need to spend some time with the rest of the record. Well, flash-forward one pandemic later and “Demitasse” isn’t even on the record, but the record is that expected departure nevertheless. Highlights include “I Want to Start a Religion With You”, “Blood in the Milk” and “How Did it Use to Be So Easy?”