Album Review: Can’t Swim – Thanks But No Thanks (Pure Noise Records)

Following years of consistent releases, New Jersey, rock / pop punk collective Can’t Swim are back with their 4th studio release album “Thanks But No Thanks.” Out on the 3rd March through Pure Noise Records.

Starting off strong with “Nowhere, Ohio” the pop punk influences shine through. The words “tell me please” echo through into a fantastic opening chorus. This feels like Can’t Swim doing what they do best. It’s safe, but that doesn’t take away from it at all.

Second track “can you help me” is an almost ode to the midwest emo sound that they were such a huge part of. This is a fantastic track, it’s disjointed but in all the right ways, halfway through the track they let this dreamy lead through the harsh noise and it sets up a huge chorus, this track is a warm hug in a world of upsetting pop punk albums. Next up is “me vs me vs of all of y’all,” a crowd pleaser, I can see this being played live at the Electric Ballroom and having the whole crowd sing along to that huge chorus. “Throw your life away!” being seared into the minds of young people all over the world.

“me u the day the world ended” is a slightly slower track in an album full of fast paced punchy rock riffs, it’s a nice break and is over as soon as it starts. I find myself falling in love with everything they’re doing here, the lovely melodies combined with a serene piano melody. This makes for a wonderful song and I’m excited to hopefully see it in a live environment.

“yer paradox i’m paradigm” follows the lead from the last song, it shows how Can’t Swim can deliver a variety of songs whilst never steering too far from their roots. This song is fast paced and heart-breaking in the same breath, moving quickly into “i heard they found you face down inside your living room” – the first single released from the full album. A track about the time vocalist Chris LoPorto received a call to let him know that one of his friends had committed suicide – the words echo out ‘they held the service on a sunday in the afternoon’ – this song is a heartwrencher. It holds nothing back and it pays off for it.

Moving on from the tones of the last track “ELIMINATE” is here to pick you up off the floor and wipe your tears away – the word ‘ELIMINATE” echoes out and this is a nice change of pace from the slower tracks it follows. This song is wonderful. Following that we have “i’ve never paid a toll on the garden state parkway” – which is a little slower and more digestible. This is a very standard Can’t Swim song.

The penultimate track “even my anger has issues” is quickly here – I was instantly intrigued by this song due to the name, I was expecting a heavier song from the name likened to “Filthy Rich” from their 2019 EP “Foreign Language” but it surprised me. This is a slow paced song with angsty lyrics that matches the pace of the rest of the album. Truth be told the fatigue of listening to an entire album is setting in here, there is so much to enjoy here but at this point it maybe doesn’t feel as special as some of the other tracks.

The final track “thx but no thx” – is an even more mellow song, lovely bass tones and a brilliant soundscape are all found here. It’s big and in a good way, the song builds up further and further but doesn’t seem to go anywhere for a two thirds of it. You really feel like it’s going to explode into an angst ridden riff and send this album off in a huge firework of pop-punk. But it just doesn’t, which was a little disappointing.

If you enjoyed Can’t Swim’s last album “Change of Plans” this is a lot more of that – it’s more refined and I found the mix much, much more digestible. This is a very good album with a lot to enjoy, as stand-alone tracks. But perhaps as a full length it just doesn’t have enough variety to warrant me gushing over it as much as I’d like to.

Can’t Swim – Thanks But No Thanks Full tracklist:

Nowhere, Ohio
can you help me
me vs me vs all of y’all
met u the day the world ended
yer paradox i’m paradigm
i heard they found you face down inside your living room
ELIMINATE
i’ve never paid a toll on the garden state parkway
even my anger has issues
thx but no thx

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