ALBUM REVIEW: Millington - Better Safe and Sorry
**This review originally appeared in our July 2025 issue.**
Photo by Will Fredette
“Millington’s newest EP is destined to burn a hole in whatever your preferred modern equivalent of a Sony Discman is.”
Every year, at the onset of summer, feelings of Warped Tours past permeate the air, warming the hearts of elder-millennials everywhere. They come with reminders of simpler times, when you could see a day-long bill of bands like New Found Glory, Less Than Jake, and other punk/punk-adjacent icons for around $25, all-in. To see a lineup like that nowadays, you basically need to take out a second mortgage.
That’s all to say that bands of this ilk define summer for so many people, and if you’re in that category, Millington’s newest EP is destined to burn a hole in whatever your preferred modern equivalent of a Sony Discman is.
Better Safe and Sorry is chock full of Millington’s blend of ska-infused pop punk, an almost perfect amalgamation of those two bands cited in paragraph one. Opener “Summer Disease” comes careening out of the gate with a fast-paced rhythm section and horn melodies to die for, and it doesn’t let up from there for even a second. It’s the perfect tone-setter. Each of the EP’s six tracks cuts through any potential for bullshit, stays true to the genre, and leaves listeners smiling, wound up and ready to go for the next one.
Vocalist Cody Okonski delivers dangerously addictive hooks throughout, each one a serious threat to burrowing into your brain like a parasitic worm, which is a metaphor as ridiculous as it is topical. The pop punk forward “FML” is the strongest example of this, a natural single with chantable lyrics like, “Fuck my life and everybody in it / Let’s step back and pause it for a minute / If you’re like me you’re probably burned out and headed for a meltdown”. It’s one of those choruses you can sing along to after hearing it even once.
Another standout is title track and album closer, “Better Safe and Sorry”. The most ska-heavy track in the bunch features another impressive horn section from trio Chris Paul, Pat Foxton and Nathaniel McKeever leading the charge over a supporting cast of upstroke guitars. The true secret weapon here is in the band’s kitchen sink approach, throwing everything from an unexpected but delightful lead vocal switcharoo in the middle, an effective gang vocal thickening up the choruses, and a ripping guitar solo from
Alex Maloy. In fact, the production choices across the entire track listing are a huge asset; every element is polished and tight, playing its role adeptly.
The biggest compliment I can pay Millington is that listening to Better Safe and Sorry is like going back in time to simpler days, cranking up the radio in your first car and hoping you don’t run out of gas cruising through the hometown you’re yearning to get out of. Not only is it fun as hell to listen to, it’s readily apparent it was fun as hell to make too. There’s a lot of talk about the resurgence of pop punk and emo in the 2020s, and a lot of that is fueled by pure nostalgia—bands reuniting, celebrating anniversaries, and even occasionally releasing a new album. But Millington is proof that the genre is alive, well and in good hands otherwise—simply put, Better Safe and Sorry is a masterclass in catchy, hook-laden songwriting, more than ready to soundtrack your summer.
Millington’s newest EP is out everywhere on July 18th and the band will be celebrating its release that night at Empire Underground in Albany with E.R.I.E. and The Snorts. For more on the band, visit www.millingtontheband.com
