As a duo, vocalist/finger-tapping shredder Christine Goodwyne and drummer Caden Clinton entered Florida's well-oiled emo pipeline by booking house shows while scouting for dive bars that would entertain their cold calls. Then, one fateful day in April 2019, Pool Kids' collective fortune changed overnight when a ringing endorsement from Hayley Williams turned the tides of Twitter onto their spunky debut. Once bassist Nicolette Alvarez and axeman Andrew Anaya from You Blew It! fame climbed aboard, the band's fleshed-out follow-up created an even bigger splash with critics and promoters.
But just because Pool Kids have risen atop emo's fifth wave doesn't mean they've stopped grinding. On their maiden voyage for big fish indie Epitaph, the band set out to capture lightning in a bottle for the third time – only now, through deeper, knottier channels. Of course, that's easier said than done. Their new album was labored over. It rocks the boat a little too much, but by keeping their bearings, Pool Kids continue to lead from the front.
Pool Kids were right to feel pressured. I still pull their self-titled off my 2022 year-end mantle whenever the mood calls for an emo outfit who can pepper double bass amidst Midwest twinkles. But even though the band booked another extended stay in the same studio, for better or worse, Easier Said Than Done limits its trips back to the well. Returning producer Mike Vernon Davis challenged them to repeat their past success without relying on tried-and-true methods.
As a result, this album has an awful lot that's working in its favor. "I've been told I fixate", admits Goodwyne as bass drops, a shimmering panorama of guitar and what I believe are horns compete for her attention. Credit Clinton, who deserves more consideration for emo's sickest drummer. Friends back home might chuckle at Goodwyne's new fitness kick, but backed by his power-pop flexing and "Leona Street" could jack All-American Rejects of their newfound street cred. The song's sunsoaked bridge and face-melting whammy bars are sorely needed on an album that breaks too much sweat over the small stuff.
To be fair, I'm also picking nits here. Pool Kids have avoided any obvious missteps. Even the deep cuts are stuffed with at least one undeniable hook. "Last Word" twists the knife with blistering arpeggios. Girl-group harmonies sugarcoat the sweet nothings slipped into "Not Too Late". Still, there are too many tiny moving parts clogging the machine for Easier Said Than Done to lock into high gear. Both are perfectly fine options, but "Which Is Worse" would be better off deciding between electro bop or pop-punk headbanger.
The painstaking attention paid to Easier Said Than Done does have its fair share of pay-offs. Like a yard sale, Goodwyne's lyrics are littered with a life's worth of minute detail. "Dani" is haunted by childhood memories as much as the ghost of grunge. But while literally diagnosed with OCD prior to recording, instead of combing through old notebooks, she challenged herself to write whatever was weighing on the top of her mind. This shift in perspective steadies the album's fidgety center of gravity – no matter how much the band struggles to stay connected with the world outside their tour van's "Tinted Windows".
"Meet me in Tampa / We sold out the show" – If Goodwyne sounds exhausted, that's because "Perfect View" was recorded from the comfort of her in-studio air mattress. With a more laid-back approach, her vision of domestic bliss would sink into cliché. But the gentle wash of reverb creeps into the picture, as if she's always at risk of being pulled back out to sea.
I'm tempted to chalk this up as a transition album. Who knows, when all is said and done, maybe we'll look back at Easier Said Than Done as the one before Pool Kids truly made the leap, when they were figuring out how to add new ripples onto what they do better than anyone else. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The last song leaves me wondering if my conclusion is already misguided. With the jitters of a last night on tour, "Exit Plan" packs a frantic drum break, woozy synth squiggles and enough memorable math rock riffs to fill a whole nother album. Cramming all those ideas in under four minutes should lead to nothing except a big sweaty mess. But the album ends with the kind of pure, glistening, gang-chanted euphoria that only the best emo can touch.
"It's a long drive home when you're chasing the sun". Like objects in the rearview, whatever Pool Kids are after on Easier Said Than Done is closer than it appears.
