Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 2.5/5 Released: April 25, 2006 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov |
The first thing you will read in every article about Taking Back Sunday is that they are an emo band. And they are. But something about Louder Now just doesn’t quite fit. The guitars are a little too crunchy. Singer Adam Lazzara doesn’t whine quite enough. But just in case you were concerned that the band had softened from its heart-on-sleeve approach, one read through the lyrics should quell your worries, as proven on lead single ‘MakeDamnSure’: “I got my veins all tangled close / To those jukebox bars you frequent / The safest place to hide / A long night alone with your most obvious weakness.â€
Luckily, such overwrought lyrics don’t dominate Louder Now’s landscape. Unluckily, they are overshadowed by a surprisingly uninventive musical effort from what was once a promising “it†band. The guitars may be crunchy but they’re predictable, and the rhythm section of Matt Rubano (bass) and Mark O’Connell (drums) drift along comfortably in neutral.
Ultimately, the album is a confusing mish-mash of styles that don’t work well together. Musically, it’ll fit right alongside Papa Roach and Hoobastank on modern rock radio, but its lyrical sophistication is light years beyond that. And this isn’t the kind of album that will allow fans of either side to meet in the middle – quite the opposite. Louder Now sits in an awkward in-between genre state, that comes across as aimless instead of inventive.
Buy Louder Now from iTunes >> 
