Review

Cute Is What We Aim For - Rotation

08.08.2008 | George | 1 Comments

Genre: Emo/Rock/Pop 
For Fans Of: All Time Low – The Starting Line – Bubblegum
Favourite Songs:
Running Time: 39:06
Year: 2008
Website Link: http://www.cuteiswhatweaimfor.com
Myspace Link: http://www.myspace.com/cuteiswhatweaimfor

Score: 53

Some more of the same…

REVIEW.

Firstly, when your band is called Cute Is What We Aim For, there’s no real room for imagination. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but at least if they were called Puppy Slaughterhouse, or something along those lines, I would have been hit somewhat with an element of surprise when I put the CD on. But alas, cute really is what they’re aiming for.

Opener Practice Makes Perfect is a by-the-numbers emo/rock diddy, which to be honest, really offers nothing that The Starting Line didn’t already offer a good five years ago. Everyone knows that girls always go for the bad-boy image, and Cute Is What We Aim For give it their best shot. ‘I’ve become what a mother wouldn’t want in a son / I have done a few things I regret / But practice makes perfect.’ I don’t get how you can be the son a mother never wanted, and produce such listener friendly music. My mum would be proud if I wrote shit this safe.

Doctor is next to come, and again, there’s nothing here that really stands out from the over saturated emo/rock market, and ultimately, that is where Rotation suffers. Each track sounds as if it were crafted to be a single, and with an average track time of nearly three and a half minutes, the lack of dynamic becomes frustrating.

It’s not until sixth track, Hollywood, that the band throw slight caution to the wind, by experimenting with different instrumentation. The use of horns in the chorus, whilst not creating anything new, does give the track a trademark that separates it from the rest. The bridge even features some flamenco-styled guitar work, and for this sense of adventure alone, Hollywood would have to be my favourite track.

From there, the album falls back into it’s bland and stagnant state again, and ends with the ballad Time, followed by secret track Untitled, comprising of 40 seconds of robotic sounding a-cappella vocals.

Produced by John Feldmann, the overall sound of the disk is smooth and polished, and I suppose in a technical sense, faultless. But in my opinion, when music like this is as safe as it is, faultless production becomes the fault. There is no character, and it almost sounds as though you are listening to songs created by a pop/rock machine. The Early November’s The Room’s Too Cold is a prime example of where the emo/rock market can have character, by showcasing emotional music as it should be. Full of emotion.

CONCLUSION.

Rotation is 40 minutes of unchallenging and uninspiring emo/rock that has been done 10 times better by 100 bands before. Just remember, if you buy this CD, you’re probably paying for Ashlee Simpson’s next nose job.