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The Audition

Great Danger

Written by: PP on 15/07/2010 17:53:26

A (very) brief history lesson about The Audition: fantastic debut album that struck a chord with anyone into early Hawthorne Heights, Anberlin and stuff like that. A sophomore slump which was was so light in songwriting quality that the winds of change swept it away after just a couple of weeks. A terribly average third album which excited next to none. Clearly, the band was heading in wrong direction, so a change was needed for their fourth album, "Great Danger", released just 11 months after "Self-Titled Album". The band previously relied on emoish, Anberlin-esque radio rock, but all that's been pushed aside in favour of a strict pop punk / pop rock combo approach.

The first three tracks start off with pop punk. Polished hooks, power chords, anthemic choruses, and infectious vocal harmonies are in focus here, and I'm not shamed to admit to finding "Let Me Know" and "The Art of Living" as very likable pop punk songs. Danny Stevens sings better and brighter, delivering some kick-ass melodies that have a lot in common with the word contagious. The first one will immediately remind you of All Time Low, whilst the second one gives the impression that The Audition have been listening to The All-American Rejects with a dose of Bayside on speed lately. Cartel is sure to pop into mind every now and then, too, and of course Paramore. Particularly "Ms. Crumby" relies on a very similar approach to mega hit song-writing as said band, the only difference is that Paramore is fronted by a girl that some people find hot. Cash Cash isn't too far off either, actually, but The Audition are more pop punk than pop to be honest. "Can You Remember?" continues on the same path of massive hooks and emo lyrics about some girl that's the most amazing one out of them all, but after the pointless 53 second "Interlude" as track 7, the rest of the tracks are more or less filler. "Run Away", for instance, is the obligatory acoustic-ballad, "Honest Mistake" sounds like a b-side of what's been heard earlier on the album, and "Never Heard Again" is about as predictable as the Drowning Pool album I just reviewed - even though it's monster catchy.

However, it'd be wrong to hate "Great Danger" because of these reasons. It's very clearly the best album they've written since their debut album, and leaps and bounds better than either of the two in between. It's a bit of a direction change towards (over?)polished pop punk than the emo roots that the band is known for, but these tracks are sure to be crowd-pleasers because they're so easy to remember and sing along to. Yeah, it's fuckin' predictable and about as original as a sheet of white paper, but it's nonetheless a fun album that you might wanna pop on to lighten the mood at a party or something.

Download: The Art Of Living, Let Me Know, Ms Crumby, Never Heard Again
For the fans of: The All-American Rejects, All Time Low, Paramore, Bayside
Listen: Myspace

Release date 16.03.2010
Victory Records