The law is a complicated thing, but listening to music is not. Listening to music is easy. So even though you might not be interested in learning the ins and outs of A Day to Remember’s ongoing lawsuit with (former?) label Victory Records, you can instead digest something much more straightforward: The band’s new album, Common Courtesy. And in the face of two years of drama surrounding the release of this record, it seems like an important time to remind the Internet that years down the road, people won’t remember that a band was once in a lawsuit with its label – but the record, and these songs, will be remembered. The record lasts forever.

Homesick makes it abundantly clear why so many people refuse to jump sides for A Day to Remember. There are 12 songs of the exact same heavy/lol-pop that can be heard onFor Those Who Have Heart or And Their Name Was Treason. Stick with your instincts; there are no true changes to the band’s sound. However, I finally realized the (probably intentional) trickery that comes packaged with ADTR records. Each one begins with a blistering fist pumper that’s more pop than “mosh.” The listener is instantly “amped” up (or whatever), and then it’s almost like the remaining 35 minutes don’t even matter. Your sated pleasure sensors easily discharge the forthcoming filler. But let’s say you skip that first song – or in this case, the first and second song – do you still have a great record? Quite confidently, I will say without this carefully planned dose of adrenaline you have a terrible f**king record. After we hear a shattering breakdown proclaiming “This is a battleground!” in second song “My Life For Hire,” the album becomes pretty skippable – save for a few (admittedly contagious) moments. If any band should just release EP’s, it’s A Day to Remember.

Jeremy McKinnon is a scrawny dude. He has a thick beard and, other than some gauged ears, looks like your normal pizza delivery dude or community college dropout. But, duh, looks can be deceiving. This guy is the definition of two-in-one. He handles both the nasally melodic vocals and I’ve-got-a-werewolf-in-my-throat growls for A Day to Remember. It’s like if Jekyll and Hyde was chased by tweens in neon instead of policemen in bell-shaped hats. However, it’s fairly safe to say these stupid people are onto something. Dummies can get lucky every now and then. Yes, sure, I’m fully aware all the “smart” music fans on this site hate (like totally despise!) ADTR. Hey! All you crabbypants need to cheer up and hitch a ride on xXshaantluverXx’s bandwagon. She beat you to it, and you better believe she’s going to rub it in your face.

A Day To Remember are sure to incur a number of haters with their pop-laden pit core. Over the years, there have been many bands try the sing/scream route and while a number of have gone onto scene stardom (Senses Fail, Finch, Hawthorne Heights), more have fallen flat on their face. So many, that labels began to shy away from signing such bands for a just long enough period of time for us to forget how tired we were of that sound. Thankfully, I’ve forgotten how tired I was of that sound and Victory doesn’t give a shit what people like me think anyway.