Reasoning with Time is the follow-up offering to Protagonist's debut effort, Hope and Rage, which was put out by Blackout! Records back in 2003. It's been sometime since we last heard from these boys, but I'm glad to hear new material. Oftentimes promising acts wait too long to write, record, and release new material and end up being forgotten. So if you have forgotten about Protagonist, allow me to refresh your memory. If you're unfamiliar with the Florida outfit, allow me to introduce them.
Protagonist kick off the EP with "We," a declaration of the band's punk rock ideals to persist through all adversity set to a fast-paced punk soundtrack. The sound is vaguely reminiscent of Lifetime, but with a bit less velocity and more melody. The title track quickly follows and sees the band implementing a more rock approach to their punk sound. It's a different sound that initially through me for a loop but after a few spins it really begins to meld into a cohesive sound quite well. "Snakes and Thieves" picks up the pace again, with a nice aggressive assault of blazing guitars and energetic drumming - this is definitely the highlight track on Reasoning with Time.
The five-song EP also features two covers in addition to the band's original material. First up is the song "Split Apart" originally written by 30 Seconds Over Tokyo. I can't say I'm all too familiar with the original version, but I found this cover to be quite entertaining. The same, however, cannot be said for Protagonist's cover of Morrissey's "Everyday is Like Sunday." I'm all for bands reaching beyond their punk/hardcore influences, but this rendition of the British voice's most acclaimed song (outside of The Smiths) just seems to fall flat.
Reasoning with Time is a nice return effort for Protagonist demonstrating their growth as band. I hope they decide to take their show on the road, because it would really be a shame to see a promising band like Protagonist fall into obscurity. If you're into melodic hardcore and fast-paced punk, you should definitely look into Protagonist.
