Yellowcard – Better Days (Album Review)

Yellowcard - Better Days
Released: October 10, 2025

Lineup

Ryan Key // Vocals
Ryan Mendez // Lead Guitarist
Josh Portman // Bassist
Sean Mackin // Violinist

Online

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Comeback records are tough for a number of reasons. Firstly, you want to somehow find the balance of hitting on the nostalgia of the albums that made you successful, but without it feeling insincere or like you’re just placating your audience. Secondly, they’re really tough because there’s often the question of whether new music is even necessary. Yellowcard could very easily spend the next 10 years touring the hits and celebrating album anniversaries with ease, and thanks to the TikTok generation and the renaissance of the early 00’s pop punk scene, the shows would probably be bigger than they’ve ever been. So, do we really need a new Yellowcard album in 2025? The answer is a resounding and triumphant yes, because Better Days somehow manages to capture the nostalgic energy of their golden era, yet it sounds modern, enthused and mature in all the right ways.

‘Take What You Want’ and. ‘Love Letters Lost’ are big, upbeat bangers that will quickly become mainstays in the live show. The vocal guest spot from Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio in the latter is a lovely addition, but also feels like they could’ve made his inclusion in the song a bit more impactful. His voice is epic, and it would’ve been cool to hear more of it in the track. 

‘honestly I’ feels like a poetic callback to ‘Believe’ or simply the Ocean Avenue era in general. A delightful violin motif from Sean Mackin, super high energy drums from Barker, a pedal note guitar riff and a killer earworm of a chorus make this one just undeniable. I can see why they dropped this one as a single alongside the title track when they announced the album as it hits on the Ocean Avenue nostalgia perfectly. ‘You Broke Me Too’ is the mid-way ballad to cool the listener off after all the upfront energy. Easy to see why Avril Lavigne was chosen to guest on this track as it kind of feels familiar to her early output in a number of ways. Get your lighters out for this one.

‘City Of Angels’ grows from a single synth pattern to a fully realised electronic soundscape in fine form. I’m a huge fan of Lift A Sail and think it’s such a criminally underrated album in the Yellowcard catalogue. I’m so glad that the band hasn’t turned their back on that era or shut the door on that part of their sound, because this song is breathe of fresh air in the tracklisting.

Picking things back up after the mid-album palette cleanse, ‘Bedroom Posters’ and ‘Skin Scraped’ bring the high energy back. ‘Barely Alive’ is a bit of a sleeper at the tail of the album that I found myself returning to a lot. Everyone just cooks on this track, Ryan Key’s vulnerability in both lyrics and vocal performance are unreal here, and the arrangement is just lush. Anyone who would ever question why the band has a violin player simply needs to listen to this song, because the way it colours the arrangement and makes the song so impactful is wonderful.

Album closer ‘Big Blue Eyes’ is the perfect send off to this lovely 30 minutes of music. A delicate and hopeful acoustic ballad that softly serenades you to the end of the album, but sadly comes to a close far too soon, in my opinion.

Better Days wastes no time in re-introducing Yellowcard in 2025. It’s short, sweet and doesn’t meander from the things that listeners obviously love about the band. This one is particularly going to hit for those who love the trio of Ocean Avenue, Lights & Sounds and Paper Walls. Somehow, the band manages to reignite that revered sound of the early 00’s, but it doesn’t feel like old dudes trying to play young music. It’s more that it sounds like a group of talented musicians who have grown up, fully realised the best way to do their thing and balance all of the strengths together.

I genuinely hope this is the start of a new era of Yellowcard, because this album is exciting, refreshing, nostalgic and comforting. If there’s more to come, then we’re in for a real treat.

Rating: 8.5/10
Better Days it out on October 10th via Better Noise Music! Find out more here!
Review by Nick Simonsen @blackechomusic