Reviews

Disposable.  And I like pop punk/rock.

This sounds like every other "punk" pop or rather pop rock CD that came out in the early 2000s.  While listening, I never could tell when one song ended and another began.  Remember SR-71?  That band in 2000 that made a song (Right Now) that was popular and then disappeared?  Junior Achiever follows the same formula.  They sound like a pacified Blink-182 from the Enema of the State full-length.  Songs about relationships and girls, wasn't it quoted that all the stories have been written?   There isn't anything new to bring to the table, so singing about something with more substance would have been a start.

The music is overproduced and sounds Pro-Tooled, I'm sorry but having a tambourine during the chorus of almost every song does not make a song better.  Personally, if you can't recreate a sound live, don't add it to a CD.  Vocally, each line sounds familiar with the octave range from vocalist Gene Champagne a normal tone to almost half an octave.  The drum kit sounds sampled, like the drums were recorded then beats were placed over it to fit the shine that the whole CD has.  The guitars and bass are so similar that I can't distinguish between the three, unless it's the rhythm guitar playing a small different chord.  I originally thought that this was an upcoming band who just released their first CD and had some growing to do for their next release, but the band's own personal history educated me otherwise. 

Song titles range from Another Stupid Love Song to Lick Me, Suck Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me to my personal favorite, Daytona.  I'm sorry, but Daytona Beach, Fl sucks, take it from a native.  Lyrically, it only continues the trend.  In Daytona, there is the classic gem, I'm funnier when I drinkin.'  That's straight from the liner notes.  It doesn't get much more complex than that.

Marketed well, this could go on to sell millions of copies, attached to the right teen movie or summer television show; but it sounds like every other CD made by every other punk pop band and they probably did it better.  Remember Nada Surf's Popular?  I hope that Junior Achiever can learn from this, change genres, and write songs that aren't as empty as a 30 pack at a frat party.