Att: Peter Pan & Wendy: We've found Hook. He's alive and well and living inside The All-American Rejects latest release Move Along. These guys have got the art of the hook down so well that you have no choice but to submit to their wills.The Oklahoma group has fine-tuned their power-pop into a set that rivals their debut record. There are 12 tracks on this record and there are NO clunkers. Lead singer Tyson Ritter is in tip-top form as the vocals are absolutely heaven-sent. "Dirty Little Secret" is the first single/video and it's a bouncy affair. Nice double-tracked harmony vocals. The next cut, "Stab My Back" is even better.
"Move Along", with its choppy guitar lines, and excellent fast/slow changeups in the verses make it a winner. "It Ends Tonight" is awesome, a ballad that builds slowly. This is easily the best cut on the record, along with the last cut which we'll get to later. "Change Your Mind" is a by-the-book rocker that raises the temperature as are "Night Drive" and "11.11 PM". Surprisingly the ballads seem to be the best tracks here, as displayed in "Dance Inside", another slow one that picks it up after the first verse. It's not quite up there with the first slow one but it's close.
"Top of the World" is a rocker that you can't help but bop to. "StraightjacketFeeling" has Ritter at his compelling vocals best. "I'm Waiting" will have you bouncing around your living room. Competing for the best track is the closer, "Can't Take It". This is absolutely stellar. The strings and piano which appear sporadically throughout are a nice touch. The chorus is just fantastic and ends off the record on a real high point.
This record is amazingly good
.and it's not even the kind of music that I listen to on a regular basis. If you sneer at pop like this and whine about emo this and that
.put on some headphones and take a good honest listen. Free of any kind of prejudices, one has to admit this record is quality all the way through and deserves a HUGE audience.
