SINGLE: Breathe Carolina – Blackout

After bagging a coveted main stage slot on this year’s Vans Warped Tour and their own massive co-headliner in the US, 2012 is already looking like a pretty good year for Breathe Carolina. Now with Blackout (the first single from the band’s new album, Hell Is What You Make It) set to tear up mainstream music charts, it seems the best is yet to come for the Denver duo.

In all fairness, Breathe Carolina genuinely have outdone themselves with their latest slice of infectious electro-pop. Unlike a lot of their older tracks, this is obviously made for radio, free from unclean vocals with none of their usual post-hardcore undertones (which is by no means a bad thing). So if you’re an old fan (or you’ve heard the new album), there’s a slight chance you might be a bit disappointed. It’s not quite as good as some of the other album tracks like Wooly, and doesn’t particularly sound like them, but as a single on it’s own it’s pretty damn good.

Blackout, by anyone’s standards, is a party anthem. It’s hardly lyrically genius, but who wants to listen to a heartfelt, soul-touching masterpiece when you’re ready to hit the dancefloor? One thing’s for sure: Breathe Carolina definitely know what they’re doing. Despite it being a bit more radio-friendly than what we’re used to, Blackout manages to strike the balance between keeping devout fans happy as well as luring in some newbies. If you’re not singing along by the second play, it may be wise to get your ears checked out. Just saying.