“Decembers” wants to throttle back a romance to make it last. “Language Lessons” seeks to share emotions honestly. A line from “Breathing in Sequence” states, “Be careful of the brightest/Beauty is on the inside.” Credit the guys with handling rejection graciously on “Pens and Needles” and “Dead in the Water,” and owning up to mistakes on “Saying Sorry” and “I Am on Your Side.”
Dripping with angst and self-pity, mournful tracks claim, “We’re going down … We tried, we know we’ll never win” (“Light Sleeper”) and “Sleep in, sleep well/With this life we are set to fail” (“We Are So Last Year”). On “I Am on Your Side” the singer turns to alcohol (“The only way to ease the pain is to drink until I drown”). “This Is Who We Are” seems to hint at a brokenhearted girl’s suicide.
Two cover photos, same album. But don’t look for that much variety on the inside of If Only You Were Lonely—lots of cookie-cutter punk songs about misery and lost love with the occasional tortured scream. Despite a few lyrical bright spots, this is still a dreary collection.
