The Story So Far ‘Songs Of’ EP

Words by Brett Bodner

The Story So Far have been tearing up the pop punk scene for the past three years. They’ve gone from opening up for New Found Glory to headlining their own shows, and this summer they’ll be playing one of the main stages at Warped Tour.

I was once told that you can tell how great a band is if their songs sound just as good on acoustic guitars without all of the bells and whistles. On Songs Of, The Story So Far have taken that theory and backed it up with an EP that contains solid ‘unplugged’ versions of songs off of What You Don’t See, like “Bad Luck” and “The Glass”, plus a new song and a cover.

Lead singer Parker Cannon is a very talented musician who has the gift to write both a powerful slow song and a great, in-your-face punk anthem. “Clairvoyant”, which is off of the band’s split EP with Stick to Your Guns, is one of the most beautiful acoustic songs I’ve ever heard in my life. “Navy Blue”, a brand new song, follows, and like “Clairvoyant”, it’s filled with melancholy but is stunning at the same time from the stripped down riff down to the way Cannon delivers the lyrics.

Songs Of comes to an end with a cover of the Bob Marley song, “Waiting in Vain.” It takes guts to cover the great Bob Marley, but I think the band would have made the reggae legend proud.

“All Wrong” was the only disappointing song on the EP. Instead of playing the whole song in acoustic form, the band only gives you a small 37 second tease before it goes into the next track. In a way, it was like what would happen to Charlie Brown when he’d go to kick the football and Lucy would suddenly pull it away.

To quote the Story So Far on “Navy Blue”, “She told me don’t think like that/It’s really not that bad”, Songs Of is not bad at all, and shows there’s a whole other side of The Story So Far which they aren’t afraid to show off.

You can catch The Story So Far on this summer’s Warped Tour on the Kia Electric Soul Stage.