Band: News From Verona
Title: All I Know is I Know Nothing
Label: n/a
Release Date: July 6, 2010
Review By: BMer
Track Listing:
1. So Long
2. All I Know Is I Know Nothing
3. Victory
4. Childish Things
5. Liars
All I Know is I Know Nothing is the latest release from Indiana’s News from Verona. There are 5 songs on the release and all of the songs are performed well, but there just isn’t enough here to set News from Verona above the rest of the crowd. Everyone loves some catchy, pop-punk tunes and you definitely get that here. There are no overt references to their faith; the lyrics are positive and honest songs about relationships and break-ups. Unfortunately those themes just aren’t that unique or interesting anymore.
The music is good, especially on the opening track “So Long”. There are times of creativity like the bells on the track “All I Know is I Know Nothing” and the guitar work and pianos on “So Long”. “Victory” has a great heartfelt introduction, very subdued and serious. The chorus is super-catchy with crowd vocals and a half-time beat. Otherwise the drums keep an upbeat pace, but nothing too fast and no overly ambitious fills to note. The overall mix on the record seems alright, but there’s definitely room for improvement. The drums probably suffer the most; they sound very flat and muddled.
I’m not trying to be overly critical here but to succeed on the pop-punk genre you really have to bring something exciting and creative to the table. News from Verona are upbeat and appear to be very passionate about their music, but they’re going to need a great live show to continue growing their fan-base, I’m not sure if they can rely All I Know is I Know Nothing alone to break them through. Fans of the poppy sing-along punk music genre will probably enjoy this, News from Verona definitely show they can play pop-punk music well and will hopefully continue to mature as a band.
OVERALL All I know is I Know Nothing is a fine effort and I’m sure fans of this genre will be singing along with the catchy tracks. There are reasons to be optimistic about News from Verona’s future, but they need to find a way to be more than just another generic pop-punk band. This hard-working outfit is putting the pieces together to move from smalltime local act to the national stage.