Varsity - Fine Forever (Color Vinyl) [LP]

Varsity returns with their new album Fine Forever, due out this summer on Run For Cover Records. Since the band's start years ago in Chicago they've released two full-length albums - 2015's self-titled record and Parallel Person in 2018, as well as a number of singles that were cataloged in last year's compilation The Basement Takes. For their third full-length, Varsity takes their talent for making melodic pop into brand new territory - combining upbeat grooves, talented and varied instrumentation and captivating storytelling. The songs that make up Fine Forever are a collection of narratives - perspective shifts from one character to the next on the album. The first track & lead single "Runaway" reflects on loss and nos-talgia for better times, complete with a breathtaking saxophone solo midway through that symbolizes an actual runaway. Songs like "Shaking Hands" and "Sicko World" are told from the viewpoints of outsiders struggling to fit in. Throughout these vignettes, the theme of how people interact with fate appears often, with the recurring desire for things to work out in the end - to be "fine forever" - working as the mission statement of the album.