Reviews

Untouched and Intact EP

The Honorary Title

Released: Jul 17, 2007
Label: Warner Bros/Reprise
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2 comments

Okay, I'll be honest; I'm not a huge Doghouse Records fan. I find most of their stuff pretty mundane and run of the mill. They are the leaders in the pop-indie movement made so popular by All American Rejects. The Honorary Title, however, continues to release albums full of exactly what your expecting, good songs. Jarrod Gorbel is a great songwriter; he has the uncanny ability to reel in listeners without overdoing the pop sensibility.

The opening track on this album is undoubtedly the most upbeat and catchiest. The one thing that stands out to me with these guys, as I'm sure it is for others, is the vocals. You just don't here the low, Robert Smith inspired vocal approach anymore and it's rather refreshing. It seems a common goal for many bands in this genre to be as whiny and irritating sounding as they can possibly be, of course most of them can't sing live either. That's another reason I actually dig this band, they can play ... I know, it's a new concept that a band can accurately reproduce the sound on their albums live, but they do. The rest of the tracks slow down a bit and rely more on the acoustic, folk influenced writing found on all of The Honorary Titles albums.

At the end of this album, as with most EP's from good bands, I'm left wanting 8 more tracks and, luckily, The Honorary Title just dropped their full length entitled Scream and Light up the Sky. If you are a fan of the genre, these guys should be your favorite band. They're good at what they do and they seem to be gaining a fan base at an incredible rate. Pick up this EP or any of their 4 other albums, as each one is a collection of great songs by great musicians.