Arizona's Lovesick Saints have been rocking out since 2007 and show no signs of slowing down. Having previously played around with genres like country and alt rock, LSS' latest EP, Dia De Los Muertos, is a snapshot of the punk rock direction that the band is now going in.

LSS provides a new take on the classic sound of melodic punk, with echoes of Bad Religion, the Ramones, Bouncing Souls, and Green Day heard throughout the album. The band's sound is close to the border between punk and pop punk, but they seem to intentionally veer away from an overly poppy style – in other words, the band is more Green Day than Blink 182.

Kicking off with the instrumental title track, LSS wastes no time in setting the stage for the driving punk rock to come. The band gets conscious on War Story, which lead singer Tom Holliday describes as "a heartfelt punk rock tribute to all those who fought and sacrificed their lives for our freedom." The song begins with bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace," creating an aural scene for a song about war, but the track isn't clichéd – the bagpipes eventually get their asses kicked by the rapid guitars and drums, and the lyrics are an earnest and touching look at the horrors of war.

There are times that the band's influences take over the band's own sound. "This Ain't It" almost sounds like a cover of a Descendants song, and the awesome "Empty" reeks of Warning-era Green Day. Even the beginning of "Empty," with the drums and acoustic guitar, brings back memories of "Are We the Waiting" off Green Day's American Idiot. This isn't to take away from the strength of the song itself –the track sounds like a traditional war/protest song that the band reworked to make sound more contemporary, and it stands out from the rest of the typical driving guitar, hard drums punk sound of the album.

Dia De Los Muertos is nothing new or mind-blowing, but it's not a crappy regurgitation of what's already been done, either. The EP is a solid effort for Lovesick Saints and a great stepping stone for the new territory the band decides to unearth next.

Lovesick Saints are:

Tom Holliday – guitars/vocals
Jarrod Olson – bass
Christian Howell – drums/backing vocals

Stream Dia De Los Muertos EP here.
https://soundcloud.com/lovesicksaints/sets/dia-de-los-muertos