Sponge - The Man

Sponge has shed most of the pop and punk that colored their previous releases and moved to more straightforward rock on The Man. Halfway through the second song on my first listen, I was starting to believe that maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing. Sure, it wasn’t earthshakingly great; but it was catchy and familiar. (Here I will warn you that I am a Sponge fan, for better or worse). The first eyebrow-raising moment came when I heard “make it” rhymed with “fake it.” I think I let an audible sigh into the room. The rest of the album didn’t stand above most of the mainstream generic rock fray. The singing was classic Sponge, but the writing felt somewhat uninspired, along with the music. Shed along with the pop and punk is the better part of the original band. Last man standing is lead vocalist Vin Dombroski, trying his best to hold together what used to be Sponge. Unfortunately, the new crew doesn’t seem to be as inspired as the old. Tacked at the end of the album is the song “For All the Drugs in the World,” a throwback to the previous album of the same name. I found myself growing a little sentimental - it was much better album, despite being generally overlooked. Times haven’t been great for Sponge as band for a while, but I’ve always been proud of their rock till you drop mentality and overall showmanship. Here’s to Vin rocking out to the end, whether it be bitter or not. [www.spongetheband.com]