Album Review: Concrete Castles - Wish I Missed U
Wish I Missed U is Concrete Castles’ debut album.
WORDS BY JAZMIN LEMUS
Concrete Castles is an alternative trio that released their debut album in September of last year via Velocity Records and Equal Vision Records. You may be wondering why I’m giving attention to an album that was out over three months ago last year. Music is timeless and we are just getting started with a new year, so while you wait for your favorite bands to release new music, may I introduce you to Concrete Castles’ debut album, Wish I Missed U!
Concrete Castles is made up of Audra Miller (vocals), Sam Gilman (drums), and Matt Yost (guitar) and over the last few years, they have honed their songwriter skills and built up over 1.2M Youtube subscribers while covering acts such as Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Britney Spears, and Guns N' Roses as From First To Eleven!
Wish I Missed U has head boppers from start to finish. The first track off the album is “Wish I Missed U” and it features Circa Survive’s very own Anthony Green! With the song being a mix of pop and rock, the vocals provided by Miller and Green compliment each other. “Hidden Faces” is the second track on the album and 20 seconds in, the song starts to pick up. I may be the only one to think this, but once the chorus kicks in, I get some Katy Perry vibes! Following “Hidden Faces” is “Just A Friend”. This is a type of song that you could probably hear in the rotation of top 40 stations. It starts off slow, but picks up when the drums kick in and the song crescendos. Fans will be engaged with this song throughout it’s the entirety, whether you are driving on the freeway or are looking to add a banger to your workout playlist, this is one I highly suggest!
The fourth song off Wish I Missed U is “Porcelain” and if you’re a fan of harder stuff, this one is for you! “Porcelain” leans heavy and has more rock than pop. Another bopper on the album is “Holding On”. It starts off slowly and it decrescendos a bit during the verses, but when the chorus kicks in, we hear the opposite. For some fans, this is a song they may relate to with lyrics such as, “Relive the moment when we first met. I shouldn’t go there, but I won’t regret my heartache. While she takes you, I’ll wait.” Life will not be the same for everyone, so one can apply these lyrics metaphorically when things don’t turn out they way they had hoped for. They look forward.
“Half Awake” is the sixth track and this song reiterates that this band is perfect for anyone who is a fan of pop and alternative. It has a soft side to it, but also a harder side. “Atmosphere” is track 7 and falls more on the alternative side. Following “Atmosphere” is “Suburbia”, another song that has the potential of being played on top 40 stations as the pop and rock genres blend so well!
“Thrill” is another song that is radio friendly with a chorus that would get people off their feet at their shows. It’s also the band’s latest single! Not only would “Thrill” get people energized at the shows, but so would “Say It”. If Concrete Castles were opening for a big artist at a sold out show in an amphitheatre or arena, “Say It” would get the crowd going and if fans knew these lyrics, “Why don’t you go and say it (say it) even if it hurts me now?”, you can only imagine how awesome it would sound to hear those words sung in unison by hundreds of fans!
All good things must come to an end, unfortunately, BUT at least the album ends with a great jam! “Mess” is the final track that starts acoustically and then ends electrically. With lyrics like “Now look at the mess you made. It’s proof that you won’t ever change. Stop asking me to wait for you”, it’s clear that this chapter of the story is ending. The lyrics to the last song of this album may reveal or remind listeners of why this album may have been called Wish I Missed U.
You can purchase/stream Wish I Missed U HERE. Please believe me when I say you should keep your eyes on this band.