American Hi-Fi - Hearts On Parade

If this decade had a most populous genre, I suppose it would have to be labeled Power Pop. It seems every band with a guitar in it is focusing its might squarely on the sugary sweet lyrics and head shaking riffs that get your toes tapping, and music snobbery be damned, I sometimes like it. When it’s done right, I find myself loving some of the power pop albums that find their way to me, but unfortunately for me, American Hi-Fi will not be one of them. To put it simply, they remembered the pop but forgot all the power. It’s not a good first impression when a disc's opening track (“Maybe Won’t Do”) has a chorus melody VERY similar to “Everlasting Love” (no offense, Gloria Estefan). “Hell Yeah!” improves on the melody aspect but sounds thin and limps into the radio single “The Geeks Get The Girls,” which is sadly one of the best songs on the disc. If there is a bright spot on this album, it is certainly “Something Real,” a well-structured track with piano lead in and actual flow that may very well find its way onto my iPod. What follows is a string of half-way decent but ultimately not fantastic tracks, epitomized by “Separation Anxiety,” a track with potential but killed because the vocals and guitar really just lack drive. Ending with a couple hits, “Baby Come Home” actually manages to be a solid pop song, and the album ending “Hearts On Parade” flourishes with Matthew Sweet sounding vocals. The tale of the tape is that half-way decent pop equals half-way to a decent score. The production on this disc leaves it a bit thin sounding from start to finish. Overall, the whiny voice of the lead singer and the lack of any drive kill any potential the decent songs gave the album, resulting in a very average effort. [www.americanhi-fi.com]