When I sat down to write this review, I found myself staring at Microsoft Word’s blinking cursor for at least 10 minutes, coming up blank. That’s not a common occurrence for me. Usually, when I write a review, it comes out fully formed, all in one sitting. But how could I review an album such as this? What could I say that would speak to the experiences of other listeners and not just my own? The struggle was born from the fact that Yellowcard’s last album, Southern Air, became one of the most personal records in my life two years ago. That album came out toward the end of summer 2012, the summer before my senior year in college. It was my last summer in my hometown, my last summer before the real world set in, and songs like “Southern Air” and “Always Summer” just felt so fitting. Suffice to say that listening to an album that ends with the line “this will always be home” is particularly resonant when you’re driving away and don’t really know where your next “home” is going to be.

Needless to say, Southern Air is my favorite Yellowcard album, and probably always will be. I connected with it like people older than me connected with Ocean Avenue back in 2003, and I was worried that, like them, I’d have to deal with a follow-up that completely misplaced the magic of its predecessor. But while Lift a Sail, Yellowcard’s latest record, is a departure from the anthemic beachside sound of the band’s last couple albums, it isn’t a departure in the same way 2006’s Lights and Sounds was. Sure, both records shift in a more “rock” focused direction, both are darker than their predecessors, and both are highly ambitious. The difference is that, where Lights and Sound was directionless and dull, Lift a Sail is the portrait of a band that has more to say right now than at any other point in their career.

Welcome back to another round of the AP.net Roundtable – an article revolving around a much-anticipated album and the discussion it inspires amongst a handful of staff members. Today’s roundtable article features Jason Tate, Craig Manning, Ryan Gardner, Cody Nelson and myself discussing Yellowcard’s latest release, Ocean Avenue Acoustic. Throughout the discussion we touched on which renditions were executed the best, favorite moments on the release, and why this album has affected so many pop-punk fans. So pick up your copy of Ocean Avenue Acoustic, put the needle down, and check out the latest AP.net Roundtable discussion in the replies. – Drew Beringer

For a band as established and celebrated as Yellowcard, the decision to return from a hiatus is a weighty one. It’s not as simple as waking up, getting back into the studio, putting out a record and playing a few shows. There is a lot at stake, and the band’s legacy is part of those stakes. Putting out a bad or even a mediocre record can tarnish an otherwise sterling career, and this is something the fans consider, too. Certainly, some reunion records we could have done without – even some reunion records that have come out fairly recently. Many would rather not have their outlook on their favorite band be affected by a hasty and ill-advised reunion album – in some cases, the allure of “what could have been” might have been more satisfying than the product of the reunion.