Looking back to get ahead takes on an entirely new meaning with AM Taxi’s third release, We Don’t Stand a Chance. Combining old school punk undertones with present day pop influences creates a contagious effect. But it’s not the cold-you-can’t-kick, my-younger-sister-listens-to-this contagious. It’s the type of contagious you really are okay with.
The music as a whole is fairly upbeat. The album’s more intense moments come when lyrics like “I will be the razor, baby, I will be the pill” blare out of your speakers. “Maydays and Rosaries” is the album’s noteworthy track, going above and beyond the band’s comfort zone of the pop-punk genre. The duet (featuring Genevieve Schatz of Company of Thieves) tugs at your heart strings, especially when Schatz’s voice smoothly creeps into the track, and the electric guitar riff just won’t give-up. Both elements raise the hair on the back of your neck. They will haunt you.
My only regret is that the album is slightly stereotypical at times. Like any band under the pop influence, the record wouldn’t be complete without a few obscure song titles. But the band gets a bit Death Cab on us with an ode to New Years and regrets during the song “Champagne Toast.” And when we hear the lyric “I’m sick of thinking about you,” most listeners are sick of hearing about it by now. While these features make the music relatable, maybe AM Taxi could keep the noteworthy mixture of punk and pop, but kick the “necessities” to the door and compliment their original music with even more original approaches to the same old themes.
For more information on AM Taxi check out MySpace, Facebook, and their official website. Get their album We Don’t Stand A Chance now on 
and see them live this summer on the Vans Warped Tour!
Great review! Thanks!