I’m gonna hop in the DeLorean and take you back to an era well more than a decade ago at this point – an era where pop-punk reigned, with labels like Drive-Thru and Fearless cranking a steady output of Warped Tour-ready acts, and bands like NEW FOUND GLORY, BLINK-182, GOOD CHARLOTTE, SUM 41 and SIMPLE PLAN were topping the charts. Riding that wave were a ton of bands that never quite made the same impact, but on local and regional levels were carrying the torch high for melodic rock with anthemic, sing-along choruses. Here in Northern Illinois, I’d once crossed paths with a band called THE BRUCE CHI AFFAIR (I did a video for them), who later evolved into FINAL ROUND (who I also did a video for). FINAL ROUND was great at what they did, but like many bands, they hit a few snags with members both moving or even passing on (their late drummer D-Max even played with yours truly on an EP back in ’04). Over the years, FINAL ROUND never really went away, but now they’re officially back on the map with the release of IT ENDS WITH US BOTH RIGHT HERE, which hit iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp this week. Stream the full album below, right here on THE ROCK FATHER…
FINAL ROUND on this particular recording is: Matt Hampson (Guitar/Vocals), Dan Lowes (Bass/Vocals), AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR contestant Andy Lowes (Guitar) and Jake Smith (Drums). The album was recorded with Dan Precision (ex-RISE AGAINST, 88 FINGERS LOUIE) at Chicago’s Bombshelter Recording Studio.
