 All American Rejects - When the World Comes Down (Interscope)
However vehement my criticisms of an AAR song, I usually fail to avoid attaching at least one positive connotation. If I was extremely specious in my approach to the mainstream, I could guiltlessly dismiss them as yet another crass, intolerable Blink-182 rip off... but this couldn't be further from the truth, and I refuse to take the easy way out. Do I hate them? Not quite. Will I in the long run consider them a fine wine aged to perfection? Not likely. They're more like a sickly bon-bon I'll only chew into on the rarest of occasions. They're the pretty, popular girl I can admire from afar, but when it comes to the crunch, can't stand the sound of. AAR can be, on a superficial basis, nothing short of mellifluent - but all the while deeply grating beneath the surface!
I'm sure you get the point.
I enjoy listening for the sake of intrigue (so why do people like them as much as they do?), but will shamefully confess to having half-enjoyed the hooky songs here such as (opening track) "I Wanna," and "Damn Girl," and the dramatically stripped-down acoustic effort "Mona Lisa." You'll never witness me confessing to even remotely appreciating the big-headed strut-to "Gives You Hell" or "Breakin'" - ""break break break bra break break break" (say no more) - and I swear I've heard "Real World" a thousand times before. "Back To Me" sounds like a poor (er) version of a Westlife number.
Don't get me wrong, the All American Rejects write some (some!) quality pop songs... but I just find 80 percent of their material abhorrent for reasons most will probably perceive as irrational. For the bulk of it, issues with the corny rhyming combined with Tyson Ritter's more often than not annoying voice act as a repellent from further listening. Call me narrow but when it comes to commercially viable pop-punk (can AAR still be called as pop-punk?); I'll stick with bands less detrimental to my patience.
When the World Comes Down - striking, distinct, unforgettable... in some of the worst ways. - Dick Nothing
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