Budapest - Too Blind To Hear

The British Pop genre is really "hit-or-miss" in many ways; some bands manage to break the cookie cutter mold and hit it big (most notably Oasis, Coldplay... even Travis), while others suffer in mediocrity. Enter Budapest. On the surface, the album art is strong, but the song titles are a bit cliché (but you gotta love the British). The name almost threw me off as well, as I wouldn't think of a band with a name like "Budapest" to be part of the Brit-Pop wave. Even now, after hearing this CD, I'm still debating whether they "hit" or "missed." Lately I've found myself listening to more aggressive music, so it was nice to be pulled back into the familiar British sound. To summarize their style: Budapest is acoustic guitars, sweet melodies, grand sing-a-long choruses, and features great vocal talent. Furthermore, I'm a real stickler when it comes to the sound a band gets out of acoustic guitars on a record - sometimes it's amazing, sometimes it's horrible; Budapest got it perfect. Moving along, the opener "Is This The Best It Gets" is a really melancholy song with great hooks and great vocals: fine enough. The next song, "Look You In The Eye", is along the same lines, as the acoustic guitar starts it off, the band joins in, and has the same climatic choruses with that arena-rock-sing-a-long quality. Still good, but am I starting to detect a pattern? By the fifth song, they had lost my attention. It's not due to lack of talent or anything, but boredom brought on by the same formulaic song structure. "Further Away" almost sucked me back in, thanks in part to its grandness - close but no cigar. By the end of the album, I had come to the realization that the whole album showcased the same five-minute arrangements, utilizing the same tired progressions. Too Blind To Hear is a decent debut by a band that sounds like they could move onto something grander. But after the first two songs, my attention waivered and I can only assume they'll lose other listeners as well. Maybe for a sophomore album they'll be more inventive and craft songs with more tad more interest in the structure and variety departments. Until then, I'll just keep the first two tracks on repeat. [www.budapestuk.com]