Plain White T's - Every Second Counts
Artist profile:
Plain White T's
Release Date: 03/09/07
Label: Hollywood Records
Rating: ***
In the beginning was the word and the word was EMO. It was used to plaster over any number of sins, it was one hell of a catch-all marketing phrase and lo, in time it’s origins with bands like Sunny Day Real Estate and Far were conveniently forgotten. Satan delivered Fall Out Boy and all fell in praise, overwhelmed by their immense crossover prospects.
So, biblical phrasing aside, let’s make it clear that the bands occasionally typified by Plain White T’s are not really Emo bands. They are pop bands in the purest sense with the adornments of bubblegum guitar and angsty lyrics in place of looped beats and ‘booty’ references.
Plain White T’s play this pop game very cleverly indeed. Their gargantuan hit single ‘Hey There Delilah’ is the opening track here and to be frank it’s an absolute delight. Wistful Evan Dando phrasing delivers a sentiment so pure and unfettered as to capture the most resistant of hearts.
It does, unfortunately, set far too high a standard for the rest of this record to live up to. This is not to say that it’s a bad record – especially in comparison to recent releases from their peers – it just sometimes lacks impact and on a 14 track album it’s a bad idea to allow the listener’s attention too far away from the matter in hand.
When they strike effectively with blazing anthems like the Strokes driven ‘Figure It Out’ and bass-driven buzz of ‘You and Me’ it’s clear that this is a band capable of writing tunes that may not reach the heart but most certainly will stick in the head and sound great on the radio.
Their huge debt to Weezer is both a burden and a gift to them. When they take basic Rivers Cuomo elements (soaring harmonies, chugging riffs, faintly misogynistic lyrics) and add their own summery sheen as on ‘Our Time Now’ and the highly entertaining ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends Dial Drunk’ (we’ve all been there) they come up trumps – heads bob, smiles widen. It’s when they are in pure homage mode that they struggle as on the mediocre balladry of ‘Making A Memory’ and the pretty but pretty empty ‘Write You A Song’.
The problem here is not that it’s yet another record dealing with how the singer feels about various girls who’ve done him wrong, and it’s not that it’s derivative nature particularly detracts from the record as a whole, it’s just that there’s far too much of the same here and with perky pop like this a 14-track meal can feel like a buffet consisting only of dessert.
The flashes of excellence shown here, though, are more than enough to keep you coming back to the table for more.
James O’Connell
Plain White T's Myspace
Buy Plain White T's CDs | Buy Plain White T's mp3s | Buy Plain White T's Tickets | Buy Plain White T's Merch
Release Date: 03/09/07
Label: Hollywood Records
Rating: ***
In the beginning was the word and the word was EMO. It was used to plaster over any number of sins, it was one hell of a catch-all marketing phrase and lo, in time it’s origins with bands like Sunny Day Real Estate and Far were conveniently forgotten. Satan delivered Fall Out Boy and all fell in praise, overwhelmed by their immense crossover prospects.
So, biblical phrasing aside, let’s make it clear that the bands occasionally typified by Plain White T’s are not really Emo bands. They are pop bands in the purest sense with the adornments of bubblegum guitar and angsty lyrics in place of looped beats and ‘booty’ references.
Plain White T’s play this pop game very cleverly indeed. Their gargantuan hit single ‘Hey There Delilah’ is the opening track here and to be frank it’s an absolute delight. Wistful Evan Dando phrasing delivers a sentiment so pure and unfettered as to capture the most resistant of hearts.
It does, unfortunately, set far too high a standard for the rest of this record to live up to. This is not to say that it’s a bad record – especially in comparison to recent releases from their peers – it just sometimes lacks impact and on a 14 track album it’s a bad idea to allow the listener’s attention too far away from the matter in hand.
When they strike effectively with blazing anthems like the Strokes driven ‘Figure It Out’ and bass-driven buzz of ‘You and Me’ it’s clear that this is a band capable of writing tunes that may not reach the heart but most certainly will stick in the head and sound great on the radio.
Their huge debt to Weezer is both a burden and a gift to them. When they take basic Rivers Cuomo elements (soaring harmonies, chugging riffs, faintly misogynistic lyrics) and add their own summery sheen as on ‘Our Time Now’ and the highly entertaining ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends Dial Drunk’ (we’ve all been there) they come up trumps – heads bob, smiles widen. It’s when they are in pure homage mode that they struggle as on the mediocre balladry of ‘Making A Memory’ and the pretty but pretty empty ‘Write You A Song’.
The problem here is not that it’s yet another record dealing with how the singer feels about various girls who’ve done him wrong, and it’s not that it’s derivative nature particularly detracts from the record as a whole, it’s just that there’s far too much of the same here and with perky pop like this a 14-track meal can feel like a buffet consisting only of dessert.
The flashes of excellence shown here, though, are more than enough to keep you coming back to the table for more.
James O’Connell
Plain White T's Myspace
Buy Plain White T's CDs | Buy Plain White T's mp3s | Buy Plain White T's Tickets | Buy Plain White T's Merch
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