 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Plain White T’s - Big Bad World By Brian Campbell  |
| |
 Like Panic at the Disco, The Academy Is and the Pink Spiders before them, the Plain White T’s decided to tweak their sound a bit, going from their smash debut, Every Second Counts, to their newest release, Big Bad World.
The Chicagoland boys hit it big with Every Second Counts, most noticeably the track Hey There Delilah. Once that song hit the radio and television waves, it wasn’t long before over three millions song downloads, album sales and Grammy started rolling in. The boys won two for the track, ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Best Pop Performance by a Group.’
Perhaps being known as the band that sings Hey There Delilah played a role into the writing and recording of Big Bad World.
Some of Big Bad World sounds like a desperate cry to cast off the shackles of being known as a ‘one hit wonder.’ The material seems somewhat rushed; full of forced lyrics in some type of fraught attempt to add a level of meaning and substance to the music. If they wanted to get away from the Hey There Delilah band moniker then they didn’t do a very good job. There is a very good chance they might have another Hey There Delilah on their hands with 1,2,3,4.
Some of the record seems like home with conventional Plain White T’s powerpop sensibility and smart hooks (Serious Mistake, Natural Disaster), and other parts are slow, tender and reaching, (Rainy Day, Sunlight), indie rock wannabes (That Girl), meaningful ballads (Meet Me In California) or just plain out of place (I Really Want You). Ironically enough, the biggest and best track of the effort is the closing track Someday. It is the only song that seems to be worth anything.
By no means is Tom Higgenson’s songwriting on Big Bad World good, but you can’t deny his vocal prowess. It’s not what he has to say, but how he says it, and his vocals shine bright throughout the record.
In other words, Big Bad World tends to sound watered down.
Grade: D
Listen to: Natural Disaster, Someday
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|