A Collegiate Affair – “Full Disclosure” [EP] [Album Review]

It’s taken me ages to sit down and write this review, not because A Collegiate Affair are a bad band, more that it took so many listens to their new EP, Full Disclosure, before I could really nail down what I wanted to say about this bunch of alt-pop-punk rockers from Richmond, Virginia.

To sum up, formed in 2011, A Collegiate Affair know how to write a seriously banging tune. From the slick, alt-punk of “Even If I Move On” with its hugely infectious melody and angsty lyrics to the super-fast, speed-punk of “Shock Value,” where the Virginia quartet open up the throttle, Full Disclosure is the kind of listen that you don’t know quite why you like it, you just know you like it. Even when they get a bit darker and head off in a more alt-rock direction, as they do on “Paper Pusher,” the sound may be edgier but the premise is still one of big, banging anthemic rock songs.

On the downside though, Full Disclosure doesn’t feel like a flowing set of songs, mainly down to the fact that it comes across like the band are just tossing out ideas and seeing what works, rather than defining their own sound. To their credit though, it seems like every time they throw an idea out into the open, it ends up as something worth listening to which, let’s face it, is some talent and makes them quite an interesting prospect.

Track Listing:

01. Even If I Move On
02. Paper Pusher
03. Shock Value
04. Hereditary
05. It Is What It Is

Run Time: 19:12
Release Date: May 12, 2015

Check out the album ‘Full Disclosure’ here.