When a new band arrives on the scene including two of the founding members of the illustrious Yellowcard, you know their first full-length offering is going to be strong. Made up of Longineu Parsons (aka LP) and Ben Harper as well as LA punk rockers Chris Castillo and Steven Neufield, This Legend are set to be a force to be reckoned with.

This Legend’s debut LP, It’s In The Streets, starts with a bang thanks to intricate drumming during the intro of ‘Lyrics With My Pen’ – it would have been easy to fall into the trap of repetitive punk rock percussion, so this track was a refreshing start to the album.

Strong vocals compete well with punk rock riffs, and on the surface it certainly seems that It’s In The Streets has all the ingredients of an excellent punk rock album. It’s cohesive, but there are enough unique features across the album to stop the tracks merging into one long musical mess.

I especially liked the breakdown in ‘Holiday From Crazy’ from about 1:30 onwards, even if the song’s lyrics are slightly repetitive throughout.

The song ‘It’s In The Streets’ has a very strong intro; it’s definitely one of the stand-out songs on the album, and I can see why it was used as the title track.

The contrast between the up-tempo verse and slower choruses of ‘My City’ add a breath of fresh air to the album, as well as the gang vocals featured later on in the track, which are a personal weakness of mine. ‘Skin And Bones’ is one of the heavier songs on the album and it stands out from the crowd because of this – yet another highlight.

It’s In The Streets is an extremely strong offering for a debut album, probably due to This Legend’s head starts in the pop punk scene. Their sound is already very strongly defined, and at 12 tracks long there’s plenty there to sink your teeth into.

Overall this album is great, but I would suggest This Legend need a little more refinement and some individual touches to avoid being lost amongst the crowd of other, more established punk rock bands.

However, with extensive tours planned right through to summer 2015, and a series of North American tours just about wrapped up, This Legend are dedicated to making their mark, and come the new year I think they might just manage it.

– Katie Boyden