Further Seems Forever - How To Start A Fire

After emo "poster boy" Chris Carrabba left Further Seems Forever, their future seemed bleak. Finding someone to replace the magic that the five had seemed to be impossible, especially after their first release with new frontman Jason Gleason, on Punk Goes Pop, seemed less than spectacular. After hearing the first 30 seconds of How To Start A Fire, I was shocked at how much his vocal skills had seemed to improve. However, it simply sounds like they are attempting to emulate the chemistry they had during The Moon Is Down. Needless to say, even with a new singer, any musical progression within the group is non-existent - solid song writing, catchy songs, infectious melodies, but nothing new. The subject matter also caught me off-guard, as every song is either about God or a girl. While there is really nothing wrong with this, it's the tried-and-true subject matter for this genre. And let's face it, there is more to life than God and girls (although some people might beg to differ). Nevertheless, this album gets strong marks for being very listenable; this is the type of album you can leave in your CD player for months. If you liked Further Seems Forever with Chris, you'll like them with Jason. [www.furtherseemsforever.com]