Peel
"Peel"
(Peak-A-Boo Industries)
Grade: B+
Sounds like: Fun fodder for a high school freshman's first dance party.
Peel's self-titled debut album (set to release April 2) is a quirky blast of fanfare, irony and great percussion. Dakota Smith, Allison Moore, Derrick Cheney, Christie Cahoon and Josh Permenter make up Peel's roster. They played their debut show in March 2005 when the band members were still teens. As it whirls along to a whimsical melody, "In the City" sounds like it came from the "That 70's Show" soundtrack. Other songs highlight guitarist Permenter's witty lyrics, like "Tight-rope walking next to freeways/This blue collar won't fall easily" in "Workers, Wake Up!" Dancing harmonies and electronic melodies grace tracks like "Bells."
Yes, four twenty-somethings can still get together and write a fun, intellectual pop-rock album. The three-minute pop song has come before and will come again, but in the meantime Peel is doing it well. Native to Austin, Texas, they couldn't ask for a better pedigree than the cradle of indie-pop. Peel is said to have struggled with ADD, bickering and just plain being young and really excited about a record deal. Sounds like sure-fire signs of a band that's about to get really popular, really fast.
Peel is a new must for any dance party playlist. This album begs to be played a second and third time, proving that Peel is right on track with a highly addictive, energetic and fun first album.
-HANNA GRENE
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
"Don't You Fake It"
(Virgin Records)
Grade: F
Sounds like: Standard punk/emocore in the same vein as Taking Back Sunday and Hawthorne Heights.
When Virgin Records executives signed Red Jumpsuit Apparatus to their label back in 2005, they knew exactly what they were doing: countless teens of the Hot Topic demographic would doubtlessly shell out their parents' cash for another Taking Back Sunday sound-alike.
In fact, these screamo scene newcomers sound so much like TBS (and Hawthorne Heights and Brand New and The Used) that describing their sound seems almost superfluous. Don't worry, though. For those who aren't familiar with screamo, here's a little sampler: Imagine a preadolescent soprano singing call-and-response lyrics with what sounds to be a strep throat-stricken wildcat. This cacophony of sounds churns constantly over the reliable verse-chorus-verse instrumental construction.
Despite the rather straightforward approach to their major label debut, "Don't You Fake It," RJA throws a few peculiar tracks into the set. It should be noted, however, that these songs clash hilariously with the remainder of the album.
Maybe someone should have informed RJA that punk rock is supposed to be terse, immediate and in-your-face. Here, the band sounds almost tempered, even too optimistic to venture into the disaffection that first fostered punk.
This should not come as a surprise, though. RJA are currently headlining the Hot Topic-sponsored Sub City Take Action! tour, an event that promotes awareness of depression and suicide.
-STEPHEN TRINGALI
The Safes
"Well, Well, Well"
O' Brothers'
Grade: D+
Sounds like: A less-than-compelling mash-up of classic rock blues, sunshine pop and Franz Ferdinand.
Listening to the Safes' new album, "Well, Well, Well," is a lot like listening to that favorite high school band who had to acknowledge their influences by imitating just about every genre. They weren't too good at writing songs for anyone in particular, but at the very least, you gave them credit for being mediocre across the board.
The Safes dabble in quite a few genres on their third LP, though most of the material here is blanketed in the same alt-rock/pop-rock veneer. Openers "Since Trust Went Bust" and "Phone Book Full Of Phonies" bounce along with sturdy bass-lines and the dark, danceable chord progressions of Franz Ferdinand.
So what's wrong with this picture? Some might contend that imitating the best will produce the best. The three O'Malley brothers, whose collective constitutes the Safes, can only do just that - imitate. They never rise to write more than trite melodies and flat pop hooks.
On two of the album's last songs, "Only In Your Mind" and "Bliss This Instance," the band finally hits a creative stride. The former piece builds itself around an especially infectious chorus, and the latter slows down the tempo, providing listeners with a tight, guitar riff driven coda.
However, this last-minute awakening of pop songwriting sensibility comes much too late to actually compensate for the previous banal tracks. Perhaps the Safes would have produced a better album had they understood their songwriting process was not nearly over: many more terrible songs had to be written before an album's worth of actual pop gold could be discovered.
-S.T.
