The Starting Line – Eternal Youth Review
Released on September 26, 2025, Eternal Youth marks The Starting Line’s first full-length album in 18 years.
With the band’s original lineup intact, the album arrives on their own imprint, Lineage Recordings, and is produced by Will Yip.
It strikes a delicate balance between nostalgia for their early 2000s pop-punk sound and a matured reflection on life, age, and purpose.
The Sound & Style
Opening with tracks such as “I See How It Is,” the album immediately reconnects listeners to The Starting Line’s hallmark hooks and energy, while layering in more thoughtful production and lyrical depth.
Guitars remain driving and direct, drums punch clean, and the mix keeps the urgency alive; yet songs such as “Curveball” and “Enjoyment” give the band room to breathe and reflect.
Lyrically, vocalist/ bassist Kenny Vasoli confronts the passage of time, the expectations of youth culture, and finding purpose after years in the game. The recurring theme of chasing “eternal youth” threads through the album.
Highlights
- “Sense of Humor”: The lead single kicks things off with full force. Blending the band’s classic melodic strengths with mature introspection, it’s like a mission statement.
- “I See How It Is”: A strong opener that introduces the album’s core themes of return and relevance.
- “Circulate”: With its commentary on modern culture (“Hey, no dancing to the DJ / They won’t put down their phones”), the song captures the band’s awareness of both the world around and how they fit into it now.
- “Benchmark”: The album’s closer offers a poignant reflection on the band’s journey and connection with fans, wrapping things up on an emotionally resonant note.
Where It Works
- Fans of The Starting Line’s early era will feel that familiar rush of guitar hooks, angst-tinged vocals, and sing-along choruses; yet the record doesn’t feel stale or purely nostalgic.
- The production and songwriting reflect growth: the band sounds comfortable in their skin, willing to explore both high-energy and mid-tempo territory, and incorporating lyrical themes relevant to their current chapter.
- The album clocks in at a tight runtime (around thirty-five minutes) ensuring that nearly every track matters and the momentum stays up.
Where It Falters
- Because the band opts for both reflection and legacy, some listeners expecting a non-stop blitz of youthful punk may find this version of The Starting Line a little more measured and less raw than the earliest records.
- The familiarity of the songwriting might register for some as safe rather than radically innovative; the balance between honoring their roots and evolving is largely successful—though it means the album is unlikely to shake up the genre in dramatic ways.
- For newcomers unfamiliar with the band’s legacy, some lyrical and stylistic references may feel subtle rather than overt, possibly reducing the immediate impact of “return-of-the-band” energy.
Final Take
Eternal Youth is a triumphant return for The Starting Line. It demonstrates that the band hasn’t just dusted off their instruments and rehashed past glories—they’ve come back with purpose, creativity, and relevance. It still rocks hard; it still connects emotionally; but it also acknowledges the passage of time and places its past within a thoughtful present.
Whether you’ve been a dedicated fan since the early 2000s or you’re discovering them now, the album offers both familiarity and freshness. It’s a strong chapter in their story, and importantly, it suggests there’s more to come.
Rating: 8.0 / 10 – A confident comeback anchored in melody, heart, and maturity.