WholesomeRadio Album Feature: Came Down Different by Pardoner

On Came Down Different, San Francisco based band Pardoner sounds like they’re speeding down the Pacific Coast Highway. Their clever guitar riffs, bold punk vocals, and lightning fast tempos keep them blasting down the road, with no particular destination in mind. They’re unconstrained, in the best way possible.

The opening tracks bring the invigorating energy that continues on throughout the record. On “Donna Said,” a distorted opening blends into a hooking melody, and “Spike” resembles pressing down hard on the gas just to slam the brakes. Pardoner doesn’t slow down until track six “Lucky Break,” which appears a slower song, until the band takes a sharp turn just over halfway through with an abrupt, sped up bridge. Title track “Came Down Different” repeats the same two lines “I burnt the candle at both ends I went up/ And came down different, that’s what I did,” accompanied by more distorted guitar and harsh drums, at full speed.

The California post-punk band closes with “Fuck You!” maintaining the same unbothered, effortless vibrancy that drives them through the record. Came Down Different makes one hundred miles an hour feel like full bliss.

3 out of 3 Legfish

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