Album review: Meet Me @ The Altar – Past // Present // Future

Meet Me @ The Altar are done proving themselves. ‘I’m a bitch and my band is an industry plant / At least that’s what it says on the internet,’ sings vocalist Edith Victoria on opener Say It (To My Face). Past // Present // Future might be the U.S. band’s debut, but they’ve already become an unshakable name in pop-punk. As they honour the icons that came before them (past), celebrate their current successes (present), and look ahead to what lies in their already-colossal career (future), the record intertwines ’00s girl gang attitude with fresh, innovative vocal runs, pulsing drum beats and scratchy, distorted guitar.

It’s glittered with standouts. TMI explores imposter syndrome, oversharing and trauma dumping, with a guitar solo that feels equivalent to thumping your leg like a dog scratching a good itch – it just hits the spot. A Few Tomorrows, meanwhile, winds things down amongst the short, jam-packed songs with the low-key jangle of acoustic guitar and the scrape of the plectrum on its strings. It's moments like this that keep things authentic, and far from over-produced.

Thx For Nothing, towards the end of the record, gives palm-muted chugging between chords, and showcases Edith’s effortless waver between varying vocal styles. Closer King Of Everything ponders what’s mapped out in front of them as they begin a new era, and ties the album together as a big, blaring outro.

Meet Me @ The Altar are not here as a token (like some critics have made them out to be), they’re here as three musicians who earned their flowers by holding close one of the things that’s most important to any artist’s success in pop-punk: a bit of fun. Past //Present // Future dismantles every box the band have found themselves pigeonholed in, and sets them on their own path of integrity and triumph.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: State Champs, Avril Lavigne, WSTR

Past // Present // Future is out on March 10 via Fueled By Ramen – get your copy now with a lyric sheet hand-signed by the whole band

Read this: Meet Me @ The Altar: “You know you’re making it when people are just talking sh*t for no reason… Every successful person gets hate”