File Under: Pop Punk/Hardcore rating: B tracks 1. New Beginnings 2. Letter To You 3. Post Script 4. Grey Matter 5. Perfection Through Silence 6. Awake 7. Without You Here 8. Stay With Me 9. Project Mayhem 10. Untitled 11. Three Simple Words 12. Ender 13. What It Is To Burn related links Drive Thru Records

Rather than trying to follow the path labels such as Fat Wreck has had to endure, Drive Thru has signed a band that attempts to break the sound the label has become known for. After the success of A New Found Glory, the label signed every independent band with a similar sound, thus getting them burned by the break-up of the Benjamins, abandonment at the hands of Dashboard Confessional and the war of words with NFG clones, Midtown.

Finch breaks that mold down for the most part. Still drenched in urgent, octave chords drenched poppiness, Finch offers the listener the angered backdrop of pained screams to accent the light pop vocals of Nate Barcalow.

When you think of the music on What It Is to Burn, think of Grade with a more developed sense of melody. Barcalow’s vocals are superior to those of Grade vocalist, , which helps the band take the amalgamation of hardcore and pop seem more viable than ever before.

Songs such as “Letters To You” accentuate the pop understanding the band had, while tracks “Perfection Through Silence” and “Project Mayhem” reach into the realm of bands such as the aforementioned Grade and Reach the Sky.

This band still has some growing to do before it reaches the level of its predecessors, but the palette is stronger than it has been for other bands at this age. One can only wait and see how a complete summer on the Warped Tour will influence this band and give it the much needed mark of the road.

Samuel Barker is Senior Editor. Contact him at suma@rockzone.com.