Written by Matthew Johnson
| ARTIST: The Status ALBUM: So This Is Progress LABEL: Doghouse Records REVIEWER: Matthew J. DATE: 1-4-09 
Forgettable at best and cloying at worst, this album represents everything wrong with the punk and alternative pop scenes today. Combining overproduced guitars and overwrought lyrics, tracks like the plaintive "Can You Hear Me" and "Why Are You So Sad" lack both the confrontational spirit of punk at its best and the ebullience of truly memorable pop. Making matters worse is the reedy whine of lead singer Ben Grant, who delivers every line in the same wispy tenor popularized by such similarly worthless bands as Blink-182 and New Found Glory; guest vocals from Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara aren't nearly enough to save "Where the Heart Is," a song not made for moshing but for moping. The more politically-edged "The Wake of What's Been Done" is probably the album's high point, thanks to a modicum of actual energy in the guitar playing, and title track "So This Is Progress" is catchy if not particularly creative, thanks in part to another guest vocal spot, this time from Bayside's Anthony Razeri. If the first half of the album is, for the most part, treacly enough to rot your teeth, the latter portion is simply forgettable, a collection of by-the-numbers pop-punk that at least has the decency to sink into the background, with the exception of closing track "I Was Sinking," which fills the requisite power ballad slot with decent guitar strums that unfortunately draw all the more attention to the affected sensitivity of Grant's vocals. Thanks to the popularity of this particular sound at the moment, The Status will probably sell a decent number of copies, but even in comparison to such similar bands as My Chemical Romance or even Fall Out Boy, this album has very little to offer. For more information, go to the band's MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thestatus. |
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