Reviews

Disclaimer: Better Luck Next Time's album, Starting from Skratch, does not suck. Despite all indicators that it would and should, it did not. BLNT combines the fresh, original sounds of Something Corporate and New Found Glory, their album covers star a punky Doug Funnie knock-off, they can't spell ‘scratch' right and insist on using an insipid, "Sk8er Boi"-esque ‘k.' Come on, by all indications, these are the elements of disaster. For a band that plays piano-laced, mid-nineties style pop-punk, these guys are really, really good. They just do that particular niche right.

BLNT showcase intense variety skillfully integrated into one quick, clean, fun sound-and this is exactly how they avoid disaster. After only two or three listens I could recognize each track for its individual elements: unique hooks, riffs, verses, choruses, breakdowns, pace, tone, etc. Although the tracks are distinctive, they don't ever move far enough from the center to sound discordant; BLNT doesn't try to ape other genres to create different sounds, which always sounds contrived and hokey. Instead the album's variety is created by a sense of subtlety that is rarely seen in pop-punk.

Their sense of subtlety also appears in how the different instruments interact with each other. This is particularly obvious with keyboardist Joseph John. I've been hearing a lot of synth in pop-punk lately and it's almost always used as a crutch for bland bands to differentiate themselves. Normally this translates to a whiny noise in the background which only serves to complicate an already boisterous sound. Well, BLNT's use of keys actually complements the sound rather than complicating it. Normally hearing a piano drizzled across a punk song would baffle and annoy my ears, but these guys use it well. For example, in track two, the guitar, bass, piano and vocals all play with each other. The piano sort of twinkles in between guitar chords, while the bass bounces below them and the vocals remain calm and steady, taking a relative backseat to the music. It made my ears prick up and pay attention, which can basically be said for the whole album.

And keeping in mind that we're dealing with Something Corporate and New Found Glory kind of music-remember that misplaced ‘k'?-the lyrical content does not make me gag. Obviously, I do not feel like life has been illuminated or gritty poetry was written, but there is a definite melody and rhythm to how the words come out. In "The Broken Heart's Delight," Brian Bortoli's delivery of "I'm singing songs of the broken heart's delight, a message sent to your stereo tonight/It takes some time when you think that you have won the journey back that you've only just begun" is just sing-song enough that the rhyme is evident, but not obvious. Bands of this category tend to write ridiculously terrible words which stand out because of their sheer crappiness, so when a band writes lyrics that work with the song and do not do stand out in that way, that's a plus.

So BLNT's sound is not innovative by any means, but its executed so well, with such variety and precision that it almost sounds innovative. My ears were never bored. So while I am personally over this sound and I've never gotten over bands misspelling words for...well I don't know why the hell they do that...Starting from Scratch is unmistakably good.