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Hit the Lights’ latest album “Skip School, Start Fights” builds on the bands previous album in a number of ways. For one, Colin Ross left the band so there was a big hole at vocals- Guitarist Nick Thompson has been enlisted to fill in for Ross on vocals. Surprisingly Thompson’s done a better job on this record than Ross did on the last one and although his voice isn’t as distinctive as Ross’ it’s better and it does have a little more personality than Ross’. The other big place that “Skip School, Start Fights” shines is it’s production; the sound is thicker, better, and generally this makes the album more enjoyable to listen through than the debut. Jason Thompson produced both records and did a decent job on both but the mix on this record is better than the last and that pays dividends for Hit the Lights. Although the song set is strong, there’s not a huge single on this record that can launch Hit the Lights to another level. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great record there’s just not anything instantly infectious as a song that really sets itself out as a single; “Breathe In” has some potential and “Don’t Wait” has a nice melody, but other that apart from being solid songs, there’s no solid singles on this record. Hit the Lights’ latest album builds on the band’s last album, is better than all of the other pop-punk albums that have come out from bands in their class of mid-established punk acts, but it will only notch them up slightly due to the lack of singles. I hope I’m wrong on this because these are awesome, but I don’t think I’m going to be on this one.