Build them to Break like to juggle hope and desperation. On their Lucky Strike LP, the band switches between doom and freedom, but keeps hints of one in the other. Opener “Lucky Strike” is solidly in the realm of pop-punk. The band puts bright melody under an energetic chorus. All the while, the band reminisces and looks forward to the future in equal turns. But, while the track might be hopeful in nature, they keep an underlying melancholy rooted under the surface.

This steak runs throughout the album. The band might be emotional, but they are loud. “Eastbound Bridge” is driven equally by large chunk riffs as it is by a Sunday school, choir effect. "do or Die" begins with some restrained strumming before building forward to the band full-on rush.

There’s a lot of pop punk out there, but Build them to Break are hitting the high points of the form pretty much as well as anyone else. One does feel that there’s room for growth here- the band knows their way around pop-punk better than most of the peers, so that leaves the outstanding question, what can they do that their peers can’t? The band has a very solid base here, so the hard part is over. Now, we’ll just have to wait and see what they build off the solid foundation.