Three Flights Up starts the disc out with an instrumental that truly has to be described as...lovely. It sounds like something rather thoughtful that words could not do justice, so it was left to the music to do the job. The track is a rather surprising, but welcome, way to begin the disc. It leads directly into the lead single and title track, Lights And Sounds. The track showcases a heavier side of Yellowcard musically that will become a theme throughout the course of the disc.
Tracks like Sure Thing Falling, Rough Landing, Holly, show this new, "darker" side of Yellowcard. They represent a bit of a transformation from a band that critics would deem "whiny emo" to a band that now has some sort of edge to it. On many levels, it works. It proves that these guys don't just need to stick to one sound. On the other hand, after many discs of "whiny emo", it's a bit of a letdown to think that sound could be gone. Even softer tracks like City Of Devils, show a darker side to Yellowcard, both musically and lyrically. The transformation of this band from Ocean Avenue to Lights And Sounds is a drastic shift to make in one disc and threatens to disappoint some of Yellowcard's long-time fans.
However, tracks like Down On My Head, Two Weeks From Twenty, and Waiting Game allow the "typical" Yellowcard sound to shine again. These tracks are somewhat on par with the rest of the disc, though Two Weeks From Twenty seems a bit out of place musically and is a bit of a letdown vocally. On the other hand, Waiting Game is one of the early stand-out tracks on the disc. The one thing that seems to be missing from all the tracks on each side of "the sound," however, is the electric violin. Yes, it is clearly used throughout the disc and can clearly be heard on many tracks, but there are no big solos and none of the parts sound extremely impressive like so much of Ocean Avenue did.
Overall, the "new" sound is not a bad thing for Yellowcard; not by any stretch. They pull off these "darker" songs rather well. However, the lack of vocal range on most of these songs and the strong lack of any impressive electric violin parts do bring the disc down a bit from Ocean Avenue and the discs prior. Lights And Sounds is definitely a solid disc, but it lacks any real "wow" factor.