ADMIRAL TWIN - Mock Heroic
MOJO/USA
Named after a Drive-In Theatre in their native Tulsa, Oklahoma, Admiral Twin have a brisk tight modern power pop sound to be sure. They have four different singers and are produced with a slick late 90's edge via the legendary Gavin MacKillop. They even have that perfect pretty-yet-dangerous bad boy look that labels drool over. Seems the only problem with this band is they have nothing new to contribute to the genre. The songs are pretty good, as the band mixes softer rockier sensibilities in with power pop influences. But the passion that makes for an exciting record is replaced, it seems, by the need to play it very safe and blend in with today's Alternative Pop/Rock hits. Most pure pop fans will find much of the record far too slick and hollow. Fans of acts with Cheap Trick influences may find a few songs, like 'The Unlucky Ones', worth a few listens. But for the most part these songs establish their soft hooks, are devoid of surprises, and just whittle off their 3 to 4 minutes, hoping the slick vibe was enough to pacify you. And on a few tracks like 'Better Than Nothing At All' or 'Blessed Imperial' the slick vibe and mellow chorus do work wonderfully. But it's simply not enough here, as the bevy of filler material just drags down the festivities too often, as MOCK HEROIC simply plays like the average record of this day and age. Ho-hum......
M.J.O'BRIEN (5)
An intermittently successful marriage between classic 70's pop-rock tuneage and contemporary production techniques and sounds, abetted by some wonderful vocalizing. These Tulsans are pals of Hanson and actually seem like a more guitar-rock oriented version of the band. The biggest concession AT makes to modern times is the use of drum loops, samples, etc., giving their songs the danceability so many teens demand. Accordingly, on some of these songs, the hooks are more a product of the rhythm rather than the melody, but AT never lets a song go by without adding some distinct melodic touches. A couple of songs taking this approach are insubstantial, but 'No.1 Fan' (which has a strong rhythmic hook leading into melodic hook) and 'The Unlucky Ones' blend old and new pop into something really nice. AT is more than capable of more basic rock tunes, the best being 'Better Than Nothing At All' which resembles a callow Fastball or Gin Blossoms. But the songwriting is inconsistent and sometimes falls back on lazy riffing and tired melodic ideas, particularly on the second half of the disc (the ELO-ish 'Blessed Imperial' being a notable exception). Admiral Twin could be great; they could be big; let's hope they can manage to do both.
MIKE BENNETT (5)