Fiction Plane - Everything Will Never Be OK

Respect. It isn’t an easy thing to earn. You have to put in time and hard work. It isn’t easy to earn in America when you are a band from across the pond, and it is even harder when your dad is a superstar legend of rock. Good luck, Fiction Plane, you will need it! Actually screw that, no you won’t. The band earned a little respect before their first note, when they stood up and said they would not sign a record contract unless it explicitly included a clause that prohibited the label from using their lead singer’s famous father's name in anyway to promote the band (FYI: His dad is Sting). The rest of their respect comes from their music. Right from the get go, Everything Will Never Be OK kicks off filled with sugary sweet punk-pop that 4 out of 5 dentists would not approve of. The second half of the album slows things down a bit but catchy choruses still fill the air. To spite the usual crappy lyrics associated with catchy riffs and pop overtones, the lyrical content of this album is one of its strong points. “Cigarette” does a brilliant job of taking a simple concept (“screw you, you only want me because my daddy’s rich”) and turning it into a great song, by not watering down the lyrics but rather relying on lyrical imagery to get the point across. “Hate” and “Soldier Machismo” highlight the rest of the disc, while the second, slower half of the album takes a little longer to grow on you. One thing is for sure; thanks to some nice genes, Joe Sumner is blessed with a powerful voice and a built in knack for music. Though what makes the album and band special is not resting on that, but rather using it to built a great album upon. This album has just enough sugar to attract a large audience, but also enough talent to get respect from even the most cynical indie music snobs - who me? It's worth a listen or two for everyone and surely a band that shows a lot of talent and maybe even more potential. [www.fictionplane.com]