Chunk! No, Captain Chunk: Get Lost, Find Yourself

For the past few years, the pop punk community has been graced by the high energy, self-proclaimed “kind of bipolar” style of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! Insanely catchy melodies paired with heavy and slightly aggressive breakdowns gained them comparisons to the likes of A Day To Remember and Four Year Strong, but these Frenchies have built themselves up all on their own and have proved time and time again that they’re not afraid to push the limits with their music. With the replacement of their original drummer immediately after last year’s Van’s Warped Tour, they had to prove their fan base that they can still flourish without a core member.

Their 3rd full-length album, Get Lost, Find Yourself, proved to be extremely cohesive and filled with an array of tracks that portray a more mature Chunk! than what we may be used to. They don’t veer too far from their peppy and melodic hardcore characteristics, but it’s apparent that they went for a more radio friendly vibe on this album than on Pardon My French or Something For Nothing. They naturally incorporate emo and pop-punk tendencies, which give tracks like “Worst Case Scenario” and “Twist The Knife” an old-school Simple Plan/Sum 41 feel to them. The anthem-esque “City Of Light” and single “The Other Line” both have that radio airplay potential, while “Set It Straight” shows the light-hearted and sassy side that we were introduced to in “Haters Gonna Hate.”

As listeners, we also get a glimpse of a more vulnerable side of lead singer Bert Poncet in the album’s title track and the uplifting ballad “What Comes Around.” The former is more intimate and focuses on accentuating the vocals with the acoustic guitar and extremely light percussion, while the latter incorporates unified chants that really make this a more personal track for the band. Both of them have that overall theme of ‘Yeah, life is gonna throw you a lot of curveballs that you don’t deserve, but it’s the only life we’ve got’ and definitely shows that they’re not afraid to show a little emotion.

Let’s discuss the album’s lead single “Playing Dead” for a minute. As a single, it encourages listeners to take their life by the horns and make themselves be recognized for how great they are (“I won’t waste any more of this life/losing direction/missing connections…” and “it’s time for me to take some chances”). As the album opener, it creates a reoccurring theme for the remaining tracks to go back to and is infectious as hell. Similar tracks include “Pull You Under,” which is all around angsty and heavier in instrumentals and vocals, and “Every Moment,” which ends Get Lost, Find Yourself. They both portray obvious passion for reminding the listener to keep their head up in relatively different musical tones.

Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! proved to listeners right off the bat that this album is going to be the album that you throw on when you feel like nothing is going right, when you feel like no one gets you at all, or when you feel straight up lost. Musically, they stayed pretty close to that of Pardon My French, but more singsongy and significantly more radio friendly despite the incorporation of aggressive screams weaved throughout. Flawless transitions literally make you feel like you were ‘getting lost,’ and maybe, just maybe you will be inspired to ‘find yourself.’

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