The Story So Far - I Want To Disappear
The Story So Far
I Want To Disappear
Release Date: June 21st, 2024
Label: Pure Noise Records
Review by Jared Stossel
The Story So Far has changed a lot in the last six years. Their fifth studio album, I Want To Disappear, is a result of that metamorphosis, finding them in a fragile state. Long gone are the days of traditional pop-punk fodder that covers heartbreak and girl problems. While relationship issues are alluded to throughout the lyrics on the ten-song album, I Want To Disappear is an album about grief. Vocalist Parker Cannon puts his vulnerability front and center, more so than ever before on I Want To Disappear, channeling the angst and sadness that came from the experience of losing his father in 2021. Clocking in at under a half hour, The Story So Far has brought forth an emotive and poignant entry in their catalog. Unlike 2018’s Proper Dose, which feels like a band wallowing in sadness, I Want To Disappear works through those emotions with a sense of purpose, facing the darkness and coming out clean on the other side.
Eight of the tracks are full band performances, with Cannon singing lyrics about grief and loss while remaining somewhat vague. The Story So Far’s lyrics have never been as direct as, say, a band like The Wonder Years, but there’s at least some specificity on albums like 2011’s Under Soil and Dirt and 2013’s What You Don’t See. They’re not reinventing the wheel, but they don’t fit the traditional pop-punk mold; I Want To Disappear proves that notion, finding the band more at home with artists like Saves The Day than New Found Glory and Simple Plan.
The heaviest moments, emotionally, on I Want To Disappear come during the last two tracks, both acoustic offerings: “White Shores” and the eponymous title track, which find Cannon mining the depths of his misery and mourning as he works to find the right words to channel all of these feelings. Even with vagueness in the lyrics, it’s the most emotionally impactful album that The Story So Far has made thus far.
I’ve often accused the band of being boring in their performances, making similar-sounding records, but I think all of that can be chalked up to The Story So Far being a band that never felt comfortable in their skin. Even amidst touring with bands like Blink-182, they are far different from their peers as they channel an evolving sound that acts as more of a blend between skate-park punk and midwestern emo. On I Want To Disappear, they embrace the uncomfortable, and the results are strikingly good.
