On the cover art of American Hi-Fi's latest studio album, "Hearts On Parade," the four band members wear leather jackets, striking tough-guy poses behind a graffiti font bearing the group's name. They look rough, punkish and ready to rock.
Too bad their music is anything but.
Beyond the new album's packaging, American Hi-Fi isn't fooling anyone. The band is not punk, it's not rock and - unfortunately - it's not very good. This is just another example of how punk rock has become the new pop - "Hearts on Parade" is little more than a bunch of catchy hooks with a few thrashing power chords thrown in to add a bit of edge.
"Maybe Won't Do" seems to starts things off well - for the first minute, at least. A thick, buzzing bass line and staccato guitar notes capture the listener's attention, but then the chorus kicks in and ruins it all with cheesy vocal harmonies and sappy lyrics:
"What you don't understand/Forget the master plan/I'd give it all away to have you back again/I said it in my letter/So we could make it better/No need for you to read between the lines/Baby can I be your baby/Definitely maybe won't do."
This is pretty much the formula for the entire album: Start off with a great hook, then tear it apart with a completely uninspired and popped-out chorus. Song after song, we get our hopes up, thinking "Yes! This one will be different!" only to be disappointed yet again only a minute or two into the track.
American Hi-Fi's case isn't aided by lead singer Stacy Jones' vocals, either. Sure, he can stay in tune, but his voice is so nasally and whiny that we just want him to stop singing as quickly as possible.
The most salvageable tracks here happen to buried at the end of the album, suggesting that maybe it just took the band that long to finally figure out how to write a decent track. The title song, coming in dead last out of the ten tracks, is slow and almost sweet as Jones ponders about a relationship on its way downhill. "The Everlasting Fall" is catchy as well, featuring stream-of-consciousness lyrics tackling "the wonder of it all."
These two tracks are surpassed only by "Separation Anxiety," which actually - finally! - rocks like the band truly means it. Suddenly, Jones' nasally pitch drops out as he wails about a painful breakup, and the song gets funky for a bit when all the instruments drop out except for the bass.
But these tracks are just exceptions, and the overall package just doesn't stand as a whole.
Quit trying to be punk, American Hi-Fi, and just admit you're just a leather-wearing example of pop mediocrity.
Suggested listening: Once. Maybe. And then never again.
If you like this band you might also like: Weezer, Foo Fighters
