Any ideas one might have had about
Shades Apart becoming another mainstream pop-punk band are slightly shattered with the release of
Sonic Boom. Instead of the bubbly, simplistic form of music that many fans might be used to from this three-piece,
Shades Apart steers more toward mainstream alternative rock radio material, thus picking up more in line where
Eyewitness left off. The strength of singles like "Conspiracy" and "Beat by Beat" show their potential to be a commercial success, while the remake of "Behind the Wheel" from the
Seeing Things album seems to be the band's way of saying that they still hold some punk credibility. The vocals are still as enthralling as ever, yet the music doesn't seem to fight hard enough to escape redundancy, albeit on a more power pop level. ~ Kurt Morris