Diffuser - Making The Grade

The first time I heard Diffuser was when they opened for one of my favorite bands back in 2001. On stage the band seemed really cohesive and rocked out pretty hard, even throwing in a couple funny covers and jams (most notably "We Can Work It Out"). After the show, I did shots of tequila with the lead singer, Tomas, and joked around about music and his band. It was a really nice time. The next day I bought their first CD and liked it quite a bit. Then Diffuser just fell off the face of the Earth; I kind of forgot about them until I saw their album at my doorstep to review. Anxiously, I popped it in; quickly, I was disappointed. I can't swallow much mall-punk and, sadly, thats what Diffuser has become. Long gone are the catchy-yet-clever hooks from their debut, Injury Loves Melody, and instead I was presented with the most uninspired 3-4 chord-change songs I've heard in a while. To my dismay they've also replaced two of the four band members. Does that have anything to do with the change in sound? I'm willing to bet it does. Most songs are the same tempo (save one track) and barely peak the three minute mark (save said song). Making The Grade sounds fiercely targeted at those suburban kids wearing Sum 41 and New Found Glory shirts that scour the mall making out with each other (no offense to you readers that may do this). It's bland, it's not exciting, and it's nothing I haven't heard before. I suppose it makes sense, though. After slightly disappointing sales of their first major label album, it seems normal for the band to totally change their sound in order to keep their record contract. It's just too bad they seem to have compromised so much of what was a pretty good indie-pop-rock sound to flat out emo-mall-power-pop crap. Maybe they'll make some money this time. [hollywoodrecords.go.com]