How To Escape Reality — Not Another Pop Punk Christmas

I’ve heard enough yuletide songs. I even wrote one once. It’s not exactly a genre of music I feel excited by anymore. So when the subject of the email from Ant is “250 words on this? ‘Pop Punk Xmas’ “ I wasn’t thrilled. I guess playing in emo covers bands garners a certain reputation. 

And yet. This song is sick. Checking off the pop-punk formula like Santa’s wishlist,  “Not Another Pop Punk Christmas” by How to Escape Reality is immediately reminiscent of the bands I grew up on. Almost too much.

I’ve no idea who’s behind this act but I am certain that A) They can play the hell out of a guitar and B) They love the Black Parade. Vacuum packed into 3:30 of stacked JCM900 guitars, halftime drums and octaved leads the song's cliche approach is betrayed by a sing-able hook that I am angry I enjoy. Pre-bent melody lines in the downchorus bridge just work. The production sits in a way that I could easily fit this song in a “This Is Pop-Punk!” playlist between New Found Glory and Paramore.  This is all carried by a brick wall arrangement but suspiciously there’s no backing vocals. No keys or real ‘riff’. The vocal line is the hook. This is a good thing - I think song instrumentation should be as slim as possible and I didn’t hear a single jingle bell or chime.

Thank god. Good work team. 

Is it too much like a My Chemical Romance song? I don’t think so. It’s not quite whiny enough, and nobody’s screaming at me yet. It’s certainly in the self-pity ballpark, but feeling sorry for yourself at Christmas time is a New Zealand tradition, like backyard cricket. At least in my family. Tackling a familiar “what-about-me” sentiment, rhyming “year” with “dear” and “do” with “blue”, I’d normally be pretty dismissive of the attempt but somehow I have played this 20 times and do not feel bored, I just want the payoff pinch harmonic solo again. There’s a ramshackle, adolescent NZ poetry to it all.

At any rate. It’s miles above any Christmas song I’ve ever written, and really, in the same way people watch Die Hard all year round, should be enjoyed the same way. There’s been a real resurgence in this genre in 2021, and I hope that I’ll be receiving exactly what I asked Saint Nick for - more of this good shit. 

Review by James Mac.