When Fireworks returned to the forefront of the pop-punk of
the scene with their sophomore full-length album Gospel in 2011, the release was met with some uncertainty from its
fanbase. The release seemed a significant departure from the straightforward
pop-punk songwriting of the band’s debut album All I Have to Offer Is My Own Confusion. However, the summer
anthems and wild sing-alongs of Gospel have
fittingly become something of a pop-rock Holy Text over the past two years. It
should come as no surprise then that I greeted Firework’s most recent
full-length album Oh, Common Life-
and the sonic shift that accompanies it- with an element of trepidation at
first. Would they be able to recreate the magic that made Gospel one of my
favorite albums of 2011?
