Sing It Loud Creates Carbon Copy Pop Music

By Connect2Mason Director Grace Kendall

When listening to the generic pop songs of Come Around, it is hard not to compare Sing It Loud to the myriad bands they sound like. To be fair, it is hard for new bands to have an entirely original sound these days, but Sing It Loud does not try very hard to carve out an identity. The band chooses instead to flit between the styles of Anberlin and Hawk Nelson and to occasionally borrow members from Motion City Soundtrack and All Time Low to help make up for their lack of appeal.

Most of their songs are simple clones of each other, three-minute formulas with bland lyrics pasted over elementary chord progressions and matched with a flat drum beat that rarely changes. When Sing It Loud remembers that music can have multiple levels and intensities, they do all right. Unfortunately, that only happens a few times on the album, most notably during the quieter moments of “No One Can Touch Us” and album closer “Best Beating Heart.”

The band is best in the brief moments when the instruments are stripped away. Like so many pop groups these days, they probably have some talent that you will not see until they get bored enough to release an acoustic EP. Occasionally they manage to break their own monotony with moments like the nicely layered bridge of title track “Come Around,” but most often they fall flat with forgettable melodies and instrumentals that boast the subtlety and variety of a brick wall.

It is possible to catch a glimpse of true potential in the light harmonies and vivid lyrics of “Marionettes,” which is easily the best track on the album. Lead vocalist Pat Brown sings, “When the filaments burst and there is no light to lead you to anywhere useful, you are severed there, all skin on skin, left severed and sucking the wind,” and the marriage of his vocals and guitarist Kieren Smith’s quiet harmony brings a bit of vulnerability and believability to the track. The balance of the song, which manages to jump from quiet verse to soaring chorus with only a few hiccups, is something the rest of Come Around is conspicuously missing.

To say the album is bad would be inaccurate, but in a world where every neighborhood has its own boyish pop band, this does not even come close to standing out. Sing It Loud aims for sugar but lands closer to Splenda. For some, artificial sweetener is good enough, but those who are more discerning with their musical selections will likely pass on this debut effort.

The boys of Sing It Loud must have turned some heads on their way to major-level success. It is not every quintuplet of pastel-sporting boys with guitars who get signed to Epitaph Records, after all. But wherever they are hiding their charm, it is not inside the plastic casing of Come Around.

Sing It Loud is currently on tour with Cobra Starship, Forever The Sickest Kids and Hit The Lights. They'll be playing The National in Richmond at 7:00 on November 18 and at Sonar in Baltimore at 7:00 on November 19.