Artist: Holiday Parade
Album: Tickets & Passports
Label: Unsigned
Purchase: Holiday Parade Webstore
Release Date: April 7th, 2009

Overall: 9.0
Music: 8.5
Lyrics: 9.0
Production: 9.0

Listening back, it’s all to apparent hearing an album from a band that has achieved great heights that they have been bred for success. Whether it be Fall Out Boy’s Take This To Your Grave or Plain White T’s All That We Needed, it’s understandable how bands like these have become so popular; clever songwriting, catchy instrumentation brought them to these heights of musical superstardom. Now as we listen to music in the scene now it’s hard to hear albums that feel classic like the aforementioned, but the latest release from Holiday Parade has made that a little bit less of a sparkle in music’s eyes with their latest release, Tickets & Passports.

The album starts right off with three very strong tracks. The sentimental piano and lyrics of “Getaway” starts the album off just right with light guitars and a steady pace which sets the tone for the rest of the release. The next track is pure pop-punk gold with the song “Turn It Up” which cast reflections of summer and fun will make this fast-paced track the soundtrack to your upcoming summer. Finishing off this trio is “Where Did I Go” which is a very ska influenced track with a fun acoustic guitar beginning and light lyrics.

Something intriguing about Holiday Parade is their focus on piano, while a lot of “piano-rock” bands would be billed as emotional and incredibly solemn at times (ex. Augustana, Something Corporate). Holiday Parade take a very light tone with their use of the piano, having a lot of fun with it. Songs like “Time For Me” and “Forever” have a fun pace and make for a head-bobbing, toe-tapping journey through charm.

Just as the first three tracks of Tickets & Passports were strong indeed, the concluding three are just as strong (if not more). “Look Out Below (This Love)” is a song tailor-made for radio and girl’s hearts everywhere (the use of whistling and acoustic guitar definitely help). The next track “Southern Skies” definitely allows a more somber side of Holiday Parade to show (something lesser found in the beginning of the release), with its rising chorus and reliant lyrics make this song the soundtrack to many a relationship. Finally the title track “Tickets & Passports” is an appropriate piano ballad send-off to the album, casting the swirling piano with strings and a rousing chorus of “Na Na Na’s” makes this song memorable and heartfelt.

Holiday Parade are a band that have a lot to offer, and this album is a great example of how music should be made nowadays, something more on the pop side of life that still holds together its artistic integrity. Not only should they gain a lot of fans through this album, they are all deserved as evidence by this album.