The Exit - New Beat

Every now and then a musical genre seems to take the world by storm. One band breaks the wall down and the flood of imitators and wannabes comes flowing down in a flood of mediocrity. In the last few years that genre has been emo-punk-pop-mall-jams, or whatever the hell you want to call it. Once not to widely known, bands like Jimmy Eat World are now getting face time on MTV. To some bands it means success, but to others it means getting lost in the shuffle. The Exit, hailing from Boston via New York, come out the gate with their debut New Beat. On first listen you might check the liner notes a few times to make double sure that someone didn’t rename Jimmy Eat World and sign them to a new label. The disc, for the most part is pretty derivative. Pop punk with catchy little choruses and not much else to fill your headphones. I am sure with enough beers in my stomach and with the amplifiers turned up loud enough, I could probably enjoy doing the pogo to these guys, but I ain’t got no beer and my headphones only go up so high. The Exit brings energy and enthusiasm to their music, but that will only get you so far. A few bright moments pop up on tracks like “Trapped” and “Still Waiting”; with moments you can’t help but tap a foot to. If I were an A&R guy looking for the next MTV darlings, then The Exit’s phone would be ringing. Young and poppy, with charged guitars and punk attitudes make these guys prime to be the next mall punk poster boys. But the problem is I am not 13 and hanging out in front of Sears, and I need a little more from my music than the same old sound in a younger body. Don’t be surprised if you hear more from these guys in the future. With a few catchier tunes and a little time to build a following, they may very well be on tour with Blink-182 and making the TRL circuit, but for now they just sound a little too much like every other punk pop band out there to make any waves in the musical landscape. [www.theexitrock.com]