Felicity–Mixtape for the End of the World, Vol. 1 (2025)

Details

Released on 16 June 2025

For fans of: Green Day, A Day to Remember, Neck Deep, Point North, Story of the Year

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Band

Damien Fagiolino – vocals
Andrew Rapier – guitar
Mike Alosa – bass
Rashid Williams – drums

Tracks

Levitate
Charlie Sheen (feat. Point North)
Emo Trash (feat. Greyson Zane)
Lovesick Blues
Nights in Your Bed
Wasted
Codebreaker
Heist
Mirage (feat. Andrew Wade)

Review

Felicity’s Mixtape for the End of the World, Vol. 1 (2025) is not the sort of album I would usually reach for. While my tastes stretch from classical and jazz to death metal and beyond, I do not own much pop-punk. But there is a time for everything, as the good book reminds us, and it turns out that this was exactly the right time for some bright, uncomplicated and ridiculously catchy pop-rock.

This is a light, energetic album packed with melodies and hooks that had me bopping around the house. It is an excellent soundtrack for doing the housework. How metal is that?

The songs are short, with even the longest lasting only three minutes and 42 seconds. Felicity arrive, deliver the hook and move swiftly on. That economy gives the album a breezy momentum, although it occasionally leaves you wishing that one or two ideas had been developed a little further.

“Levitate” (track 1) gets things moving with a bouncing, diluted metalcore riff set against a club-like beat. Harmonised vocals lift the chorus and immediately establish the album’s bright personality. This is shiny, sunshine-soaked Florida punk: polished, buoyant and determined to have a good time.

“Charlie Sheen” (track 2) was the first Felicity song I heard. At the time, the band were using social media to try to connect with Charlie Sheen himself while promoting the single. That playful campaign fits the song perfectly. It is upbeat, unashamedly poppy and melodic, and it never fails to make me smile.

An acoustic guitar introduces “Emo Trash” (track 3), which carries a distinct flavour of Green Day. The throbbing, start-stop chorus is punctuated by cheers and gang vocals before a familiar pop-punk solo closely follows the vocal melody. It is delightfully disposable pop-rock, and I mean that as a compliment: quick, catchy and enormous fun.

“Lovesick Blues” (track 4) reaches further back into the 1980s. Reverb-soaked guitars and a melodic keyboard line make it sound like the backing track to a montage from a late-1980s teenage romantic comedy. There are distinct traces of boy-band pop here too. That is not normally my thing, but Felicity carry it with enough warmth and confidence to make it work. This is music for partying while the sun is out and the world is burning.

The wistful “Nights in Your Bed” (track 5) continues in that poppier direction. Soft “ahh” backing vocals decorate a track that pootles along like a small train before the chorus opens into a broad melody, like sunlight emerging from behind the clouds. Beneath the polished surface there is a gentle sense of longing that gives the song a little more emotional weight.

“Wasted” (track 6) begins quietly with a riff that recalls the restrained opening of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. It soon expands into a louder, more raucous mid-paced rocker, complete with another full-band, shouted chorus. It burns brightly and then disappears after just two minutes and 47 seconds. Wasted, indeed.

A funky bass line opens “Codebreaker” (track 7), ushering in a song that could have escaped from Miami Vice or the soundtrack to the mid-1980s arcade racer OutRun. It evokes open-top cars, beaches, neon skies and aimless summer cruising. Once again, it is fun, fleeting and gloriously unconcerned with profundity.

“Heist” (track 8) begins with one of the heavier, more bouncing riffs on the album before breaking into something that reminds me unexpectedly of Ocean Colour Scene. Pop vocals, armfuls of melody and a driving rock beat give it a foot firmly planted in each camp. It is one of the clearest examples of Felicity’s ability to make rock feel muscular without sacrificing immediacy.

The album closes with “Mirage” (track 9), perhaps its most overtly pop-oriented song. Think Justin Bieber and, well, other people like Justin Bieber. I have no idea; I don’t listen to much mainstream pop these days. It is nevertheless a gentle and appealing finale, built around a fabulously melodic chorus. Then, suddenly, it is all over. The abrupt ending feels almost like the power has been cut, which may be entirely appropriate for a mixtape made for the end of the world.

Conclusion

I am surprised by how much I like Mixtape for the End of the World, Vol. 1 (2025). More importantly, I keep coming back to it. It is light, fun, melodic, gentle and inoffensive. It don’t dig especially deeply or break new ground in either subject matter or genre, but it don’t really need to.

Felicity have made a solid, polished pop-rock and pop-punk album that understands the value of a good hook and a quick burst of joy. Sometimes music does not need to confront the darkness. Sometimes it can simply offer a few moments of escape and lift your spirits while the world burns outside.

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Disclosure

Felicity posted on Instagram inviting people to receive and review their latest album, so I contacted them and said yes, please. Thank you. I have no connection to Felicity and I’m not being paid to review this, but I did receive a free digital copy of the album, which is pretty cool. Many thanks to Felicity for continuing to create fresh, uplifting pop-punk.