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Mayday Parade’s Atlantic debut is a solid label debut for the band. The album was produced by David Bendeth so you know it’s stellar in that sense but what really impresses on “Anywhere But Here” is the band’s songwriting skills. Like another Florida band, Yellowcard the band writes some tremendous pop songs that don’t necessarily feel like pop songs. There’s a lot of rock there, stuff that’s really written for thick guitars that keeps it from being too poppy in places. That’s prevalent on “Anywhere But Here” especially on the ballad tracks “Save Your Heart” and “Kids in Love.” There’s a lot to get into on this record, not just the ballads- the faster/harder tracks like “The Silence” “Bruised and Scarred”, and “Get Up” are all quality tracks. Mayday Parade’s debut is impressive but in a lot of ways it is just a debut. There are a lot of cliché’s that they use in their music- lyrics for tweens, dude choruses, the typical ending track, etc. This is impressive but it does have a few flaws. This is a band with a lot of potential and a band that can definitely be big- we’ll just have to see if happens.