“Of Men and Angels” is the definition of maturing. It seems these days that every time an artist is getting ready to release an album, all we can hear about is how their sound has matured since the last time around. I never quite understood that statement because I like my music fun and catchy but if some of you are like me, a little confused about the meaning of “maturing” your sound, this album is for you.

Bryce Avery comes back for his 5^th studio album and the first in about three years. This is a completely different installment from what we are used to with The Rocket Summer, he has traded in his childish piano riffs for crushing guitar tones and songs about his high school buddies with more meaningful lyrics about his struggles in the world. There is still a couple of really catchy happy-clap-your-hands-and-smile type of songs, my two favorites would be “Hey!” and “Roses” but most songs take a deeper and more serious turn (Bryce himself claimed that he stills get very emotional while singing songs like LIGHTS) while staying extremely enjoyable and without ruining the mood of the album.

“Of men and angels” was the smart and mature move to make at this point in the group’s career and if they ever have mainstream success, this is the album that will bring it to them. They have overcome a lot of issues in the last two years, with the first version of the record being shelved by the label for several months when their A&R got fired.

The Rocket Summer are now back and stronger than ever and with enough recorded material to keep us dancing for the next several years to come.