Keeping Hope Alive

Unlike so many of their peers, New Jersey's the Fire Still Burns don't subscribe to punk and hardcore's generally pessimistic world view. In fact, their entire six-song EP Keeping Hope Alive is characterized by melodic hardcore's positive energy — leading to an inevitable sense of well being and, well, hope, no matter how serious the messages of songs like "Insert Motivation Here" and "The Heroes Are Losing." And because singer Alf Bartone's voice also possesses the same timber of earnest musicality as Bad Religion's Greg Graffin, several other tracks ("Good as New," "Spread the Wealth," "Service Level Agreement") are absolute ringers for the SoCal hardcore legends. They finally come close to what one might call a somber mood with the more deliberate and contemplative "November Days," but still nothing to keep the more jaded spectrum of punk fans from feeling buried under the weight of the band's rampant positivity.