By Isaiah Smith/entertainment editor
+44, containing two out of three former Blink-182 members, rocks onto the airwaves with its debut album When Your Heart Stops Beating.
Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker recruited the former touring guitarist for the Transplants, Craig Fairbaugh, and the lead guitarist from The Nervous Return, Shane Gallagher, to round out the band.
“Lycanthrope” has such a cool name that I was very disappointed when it turned out to be generic rock music. I can definitely hear the Blink-182 vibe; still, this song would never catch me on the radio.
A techno remix is exactly what “Lycanthrope” needs, but there has to be both an ambient version and a house version.
“ When Your Heart Stops Beating,” the title track and a single off the album, is a little better. It made a ripple on the charts topping out at 14 in the US Modern Rock category, but I still think it is far too generic.
“ Baby Come On,” another single that has done little on the charts, is some of the same generic sounding rock as the rest of the CD. Come on, +44, you can do better than that.
“ 155” is a great option for a single off of this album—it has a more electronic sound than the other tracks. If +44 plans to actually make a career out of this super group, it needs to tone down the generic rock and tone up on the electronic stuff.
Rock is currently in-between the whiny-punk vibe of the early 2000s and the electronic-emo vibe that is starting to dominate now. I doubt +44 wants to go that direction, which leaves techno as its best shot at success.
Like most guys my age, I always jammed to Blink-182, so it is not easy for me to be honest about this. But the truth is the truth: this album does not even begin to measure up.
Several of the tracks, such as “Cliffdiving” and “Weatherman,” sound alike. I hope that this band can pull it together on the sophomore album because there is potential here.
“Little Death” is the best choice for a single; it has that slow melodic sound that is dominating the rock charts currently. The vocals on this song show me that +44 has hope for the future. The verses are a cool aspect with digitized lyrics and enough of a chorus to hook the listener.
Unfortunately, since the album has already had several singles, I doubt “Little Death” will get a chance, which is a shame because it is one song on this album that might garner some sales.
When Your Heart Stops Beating is a generic, typical album with a few electronic rays of hope.
I give this CD two stars. +44 needs to try a little harder for diversity in its catalog.
