An ironic title for a record that plays directly into the warm embrace of this year's current hot trend: Synth-driven indie/new wave (or whatever the hell you want to call it) with a major 80's sort of edge. Also worth pointing out from the start is the fact that this record is entirely too long at 50 minutes, and the opening track, "This Year's Fashion", which is dominated by synths and vocals with very little guitars and percussion (hard-panned in separate speakers went they do come in), is a very weak way to kick off an album. Now, it should be obvious by this point that I'm not very into this style. There are actually a few bands out there doing a great job of this stuff right now, but I'm quickly growing tired of it because so many bands are hopping on the wagon and seem more fashionable and kitschy than they do genuine or enthusiastic. This band is definitely among those that strikes me as more fashionable, in part due to the fact that the CD packaging poses that sort of image, and because the songwriting just isn't very good. Admittedly there are facets of this material that are a little different from the norm. The recording sounds really clear and beefed up, for one, they're not working within that whole sort of watery, dated 80's aesthetic in the recording department. And tracks like "Photograph" (not a Def Leppard cover, to my dismay) definitely have more of a catchy 80's radio rock thing happening (think The Cars meets Rick Springfield or something), which I would be way into were it not for the generic keyboards playing so large a role. I mean, it's a damn well written song, straightforward and simple, getting to the point and closing up shop. The singing is never really my thing because it sounds sort of mopey and drawly, working better in the catchier tracks than the slower or "darker" (not all that dark in reality) songs. "Instructions on Building" is another of the more rocked out tracks, but in it the keys are actually placed farther back in the distance - especially effective during the chorus when the guitars explode forth in full force. As mentioned the recording is pretty cool. Nice and thick, clear but punchy, etc. The keyboards are often way too loud, bothersome mainly because the actual sound of the synths is totally derivative and clutters the mix, but other than that I have no quarrels with the sound quality at all. Okay, some of the thinner guitar tones are lame, but other than that? It's fine. Design-wise this is one of the brightest damn CD's I've ever seen. The entire layout is done in hot pink and neon green with a little black and white, so it's blindingly in your face and bold with high contrast text and imagery. I actually sort of like all of that, besides the fact that it looks like trendy hipster bullshit. The coolest part about it is that the booklet has a satin sort of finish with subtle varnish over all of the non-pink colors, adding to its overall sheen with an unexpected visual twist. The lyrics do nothing for me as they're dealing with typical relationships with typical metaphors and whatnot and blah, blah, blah. This is disappointing, but I pretty much knew what I was going to be getting into when I saw the CD cover, so it's not like they're misrepresenting themselves. I'm sure there are people out there who will fawn all over this, but these dudes really need to cut the shit, open it up, and rock out. Fuck it. There's talent buried in here, and a few of the songs prove it, but the non-rocking portions of the disc (i.e. its majority) certainly are non-rocking. Why non-rock when you could rock instead? Do the math.
[Victory]
Running time - 50:19, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Photograph, Instructions on Building, Broken]
Victory Records - http://www.victoryrecords.com
