Album Results
Album Reviews
Relient K was already flirting with the border between alt-CCM and secular pop-punk on 2003's Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do, but they really broke through to the TRL Nation with 2005's MMHMM. The follow-up EP Apathetic is a mid-tour buzz sustainer that includes an acoustic version of the single "Be My Escape" and six other tracks. The mandolin, piano, and brushed percussion on "Escape" prove it's an even better song with the sugary studio production removed, and the Two Lefts standout "Over Thinking" shines in acoustic form, too. "Truth" is pretty generic as pop-punk goes, but "Apathetic Way to Be" finds Relient at their best, since its hook sticks with you and Matthew Thiessen's lyrics are wordier and better than most of his contemporaries. Even if he's singing about his Lord and Savior ("Begging for the proof/Sometimes the hardest thing to believe is the truth"), his nice-guy flutter will make the teenage girls swoon. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
Track Listing
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Girls Sugababes |
| By roping in credible producers such as Richard X and peppering their songs with up to the minute electro touches, Sugababes have managed to create songs that appealed as much to the cynical music press as it did to teenage girls. Throw in a revolving door line up and a media fascination with the bands perceived moodiness and you have a recipe for the most successful girl band of the new millennium. However on "Girls", a cover of Ernie K-Does early R&B classic "Here Comes The Girls", The "Babes" lack any of the inventiveness that made singles such as "Freak Like Me" and "Push The Button" so enjoyable. As countless artists have proved over the years, there's nothing wrong with uncovering a hidden gem and putting your own spin on things; Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" springs to mind as a good example. However, you can't help thinking that The Sugababes' producers have hardly been "diggin' in the crates" to uncover "Here Come The Girls" since it has been used extensively by Boots over the last couple of years to sell beauty products. Throw in a few predictable Mark Ronson style horn riffs and you have a sub Atomic Kitten mess that tarnishes a lot of the bands efforts to be taken seriously. | |
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