So let's just get this out of the way up front: after listening two or three times to The Cringe's sophomore album, Tipping Point, I was ready to write them a mediocre-at-best review. But... then I found myself humming a couple of the songs the next day.
This puts me in a weird predicament. Just because I was humming the songs the next day doesn't really mean anything in terms of quality of the music; it just means they have memorable hooks. As a point of reference, who among you can honestly say you've never gotten some insipid pop song's hook stuck in your head? (You in the back, stop lying to yourself.)
And the weirdest thing perhaps is that I can't really pinpoint what I dislike about the CD. Tipping Point is full of mid- to up-tempo rockers, with a kind of bluesy/grungy rock sound. Somewhere between Shinedown and Silvercrush, maybe a few flavors of Pearl Jam and Nirvana in there too on the more upbeat "Undone." Vocalist John Cusimano may be very high in my list of favorite rock voices, but neither is he near the bottom. Like I said, there are plenty of vocal hooks that get lodged in my head, particularly the chorus to opener "Blame." John and fellow guitarist Rob Levin throw together plenty of decent riffs, so it's not that the guitars are particularly boring. Likewise, bassist Matt Powers and drummer Shawn Pelton do a good job holding the rhythm together, never sounding like they're just phoning it in and never acting like they're unduly drawing attention to themselves.
There are a few dull songs, which are maybe weighing too heavily into my memory of the CD. For instance, "Freedom Ban," a drearily slow song sounding heavily influenced by Shinedown's ".45" but lacking emotion and dragging on for over 5 minutes.
Or maybe it's just that I hear all of the elements there, and they're just not lining up how I think they should. The band as a whole certainly has potential, but this CD is just lacking something. Emotion, or maybe that one killer song that really pulls the whole thing together. So despite the fact that I have had some of their songs stuck in my head, and may continue to for the next week or so, I'm going to stick with my initial opinion. The Cringe isn't a bad band, and Tipping Point isn't a bad CD, in the grand scheme of things. If you're into Shinedown's mellower moments, this might be right up your alley. I just think they could be so much more, and maybe this is just their sophomore slump and a third CD will come back and set everything right.
