It’s hard to read reviews of this 2010 disc online in which the reviewer is still bemoaning the loss of former lead vocalist Scott Wade. Anyone in that camp needs to get over it, because in spite of the loss, Comeback Kid is making some of the best hardcore in recent memory. It’s all here on Symptoms + Cures, CBK’s fourth studio release and the follow up to 2007’s Broadcasting: urgent riffs with the right amount of melody, gang vocals, half-time bridges and mighty breakdowns. Andrew Neufeld does a good job expressing what it can be like trying to figure your shit out in your late 20s: “Well I’ve been spending a lot of time looking in / Feel the pulse and it’s aggravating / Push and pull while the concept stays / And I can’t get a peace of mind, and my head keeps racing / And I can’t get a peace of mind, and my head keeps racing.” Their second best record yet. Catch them live at the Albert on Saturday, Feb. 5.

Published in Volume 65, Number 16 of The Uniter (January 20, 2011)