The dawn of a new musical era is rapidly infecting the young adult population worldwide. The alternative-rock genre of music is gaining momentum as bands such as Imagine Dragons, The Neighbourhood, and MGMT become increasingly popular.

One band, Parade of Lights, recently joined the alternative-rock community in 2010. Long time friends Ryan Daly (the lead vocalist and guitarist) and Anthony Improgo (the drummer) joined Randy Schulte and Michelle Ashley to perfect the band’s line-up.

Their first single, “We’re the Kids,” was released in 2013 and was met with overwhelmingly positive responses by the public. The song, which synthesizes pop and electronic alternative music perfectly, reached the top ten on Sirius XM’s Alt Nation, quite a feat for such a young group of musicians.

Perhaps because I have gotten the opportunity to listen to “We’re the Kids” a multitude of times on Alt Nation, it is undoubtedly my personal favorite out of the four songs I’ve listened to.

The band’s newest single, “Golden,” inspires the same theme of embracing youth and spontaneity as “We’re the Kids.” However, it is slightly more pop-oriented and cliche. For example, I am fed up with being told to “Put [my] hands up to the sky.” I expect to hear lines like that on 107.9, not  94.7.

Despite my mild disappointment with “Golden,” I am certain that Parade of Lights has so much more to offer the alternative-rock music industry as well as the public. For a band that just formed four years ago, they have done well in releasing a highly successful single. They, like many other young alternative bands, have not peaked yet.

Their other two songs, “The Island” and “Burn,” were simply decent. I don’t believe that either is worthy of being a hit single like “We’re the Kids,” but both have intriguing beats and show great promise.

Enjoyment of any of these four songs depends greatly on the listener’s personal preferences. Personally, I would like to have heard less pop influence and more alternative beats from Parade of Lights. For others, however, this may be a perfect synthesis of all different genres. Either way, the music is worth checking out.

Although “Golden” was somewhat of a disappointment after enjoying “We’re  the Kids” so immensely, the thirst for change, spontaneity, and inspiration characteristic of Parade of Lights will still ultimately define a new age of music.