July 4, 2002
Rival Schools : Good Things
...melodic hardcore has never sounded quite so bright, anthemic, and accessible...
Less a record, more a self-fulfilling prophecy, 'Good Things' is the latest masterstroke in Rival Schools' plot to rule over emo as a benevolent dictatorship. "Good things are coming our way/I know they always have" beams perky frontman Walter Schrifels, settling into comfortable emo middle-age like a Californian grandad stretching out into his back-massaging easy-chair.
For all the Schools’ starry-eyed optimism, you’ve got to wonder exactly where a group that writes songs about things being kinda peachy fit into today’s fraught rock scene. But melodic hardcore has never sounded quite so bright, anthemic, and accessible - and somehow, this charming single makes self-satifaction sounds like a pretty attractive wild card.
Louis Pattison
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