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CHAMPION

Can of Bliss

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It’s a bit rave, it’s a bit pop punk. A lot of emo and a heavy dose of aughts. The mismatched influences occasionally align in the maximalist record, “CHAMPION.” Can of Bliss fights to be an artist worth hearing on a sophomore album that reaches for the heights, though often straining to do so. High emotions, high production, and high volume make for a vulnerable and unbalanced take on artistic ego. A goofy step for an artist on track to find their voice.

Best musician you never heard of.

Can of Bliss comes in hard on the motley, “NOBODYKNOWS.” A track that feels uncomfortable in its skin, shifting tone at a whiplash pace. The emo lyrics scream out with a peaked vocal capturing the internalized anxiety of loneliness in companionship. But too much gets lost in a mishmashed production. It’s only by the end that the track finds its rhythm, locked into an anthemic drum in sync with the scale of the chorus.

“COOL,” works far better as an opener. A song that could’ve soundtracked a 2000’s Disney Channel original, in the most complimentary way possible. The artist races down a pop punk track amped further by a chorus that bleeds enviously, wanting to be the greatest in the scene. Taking its time to breathe with a clean feature by Saorise Dream, the song caps off as a highlight for the album.

Yeah, I get it, I’m embarrassed about my own ego

But don’t act like there’s something you don’t see though

Yeah, we all got endless desires, I’m just a bit neurotic about it

The following, “WORKITOUT,” pushes the pace further with a pop chorus swirling in its lyrical interiority. Though its pounding rhythm weighs heavy on the rest of the mix. The track runs 5 minutes up to a climax that breaks through its space, working on this single but setting a repetitive pattern for the rest of “CHAMPION.”

The high intensity continues with no recovery period in “LETMEGO,” hammering its chords in a return to the pop punk. Itching for escape, the first half is simple and effective. With vocals that peak in an emo bray. If it ended at 2:16, you’d have a solid, tight song – thumbs up. Instead, it melts into reflexiveness, collapsing in on itself with a switch followed by a switch followed by a switch. It’s by this point I need to pause the album just to rest.

“CHAMPION,” turns from the emotional paranoiac low into the braggadocious high of “ROCKSTAR.” The track thrives in its ego, tapped into the delusional grandeur you need in order to survive as an artist. What should be a strong pivot is unfortunately drowned out by the nonstop sequencing, losing its bite in an overextended runtime.

Rockstar animal, controversy cannibal

Yeah I got some shit to say, I’ll be the one to say it

Future classical, I’ll be international

Yeah I got some shit to say, you’ll be the ones to hear it

I’m a rockstar, bitch, I’m a rockstar

It’s by “MYANXIETYISDEBILITATING,” that the album downright feels like an assault on the listener. Can of Bliss holds tight to a world spinning fast in a track that feels like a bad stimuli switch at a party. The insistence on a jackhammer beat and scaled up production feels claustrophobic, exhausting, and headache inducing. It’s at this point you have to ask, if every track goes to 11, why couldn’t 10 be enough?

So much pressure just to exist right here

“HOUSEONAHILL,” finally cools the album down in a gorgeous production that accentuates its vulnerability. Acoustic backing and pleading lyrics capture the interiority of an artist fighting to make it. An, “I want,” song longing to be enough for a world that feels too big. musa’s feature bares the anxiety with a voice that melts into the guitar. Can of Bliss proves they can reach a softer key in a tender yet energized track, serving as a landmark to navigate the rest of the album.

I wanna live in a house on a hill

Make money, pay bills, be a really big deal

Take control of my wheel, good mood, no pills

Anything if we’re still alive, still real

The album comes back faster, but still holding focus in, “DONTTOUCHANYTHING.” The vocal variability structures the track with a solid bridge holding the chorus up. Even the blown-up ending fits better here, with Can of Bliss flexing their production skills. 

“NEARDEATHEXPERIENCE,” follows this run in a song that brings the dance back into the pop punk. The melodies hook the lyrics and make you dance. Simple and effective, blending its influences together. The unfortunate part is when you realize the track is 5 minutes. The back half loses track and deflates, leaving one confused on when the song actually ends.

The final track, “ALL OR NOTHING,” brings the high intensity camp of emo in a single that captures the ethos of “CHAMPION.” Nothing is spared in this wrap up that slams its beat and screams its vocals. The repeated tag finally gets some closure in not needing to be the greatest you’ve heard, but enough for an audience. It’s a lot, and if it were one of a few it would make a good cap. In a nonstop track run however, the album comes in spinning and leave’s dizzying.

Oh, I dance like an idiot on stage

At least when I play my shit to a crowd I get paid

Okay, no shade, so played

Might not be the best musician, but I’m self fucking made

“CHAMPION,” is big in every sense. It’s unfocused, itchy, and overextended. But it’s also vulnerable, energetic, and clearly passionate. The standout tracks hit hard but get overwhelmed in this 10-track record. The forest just needed to be considered as much as the trees. But that’s what’s nice about a sophomore album, it’s a step forward. Can of Bliss shows a clear technical skill and unwieldy energy ripe for the genre. Some better sequencing, pacing, and control would go a long way to balance out a listen. As it is though, “Champion” is a split draw.

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