By: Jesus De La Rosa
OwlFeed Journalist

Indie/punk-rock band The Garden released their fast-paced third album Mirror Might Steal Your Charm on March 30th. The album was a quick, fast-paced punk album, with the weird, classic The Garden sound.

The first song, which also served as their second single, “Stallion”, provides a thrashy, hard hitting sound that sets the mood for the entire album. While their past sounds have labeled them as a punk band, in Mirror Might Steal Your Charm, it seemed like they were going to fully embrace that label. But when listening to the full album, it was clear that wasn’t the direction they were going for.

Nonetheless the album was still lots of fun, with stand out songs like the groovy “Make A Wish,” and the great closer “No Destination.” “:(” was another fast paced tune that turned into a great punk mess in its second half. The montone “A Message from Myself” is definitely going to be a classic Garden song, jumping from different sounds every other verse, a move which normally wouldn’t work, but fits right into their styles.

The strength of the album stays mainly in the first half, with many songs in the second half blending together, and while you were aware a new song had begun, you felt like you had just heard that song. “Call The Dogs Out” seemed to be an attempt of the old school, beachy pop-punk songs of bands like Blink-182. While it wasn’t a terrible song, among the rest of their far reaching songs, it felt a bit bland and unoriginal.

That’s when the album started to go a bit downhill. The only notable songs after that would be “Voodoo Luck,” another aggressive track that could cause riots at their live shows, and the formerly mentioned “No Destination.” Overall, it’s a very enjoyable album for punk lovers, inde lover and weirdos alike, solidifying The Garden as one of the best Epitaph Records has to offer.