Album Review - Plain White T's

Artist – Plain White T’s
Album – Every Second Counts

I always like the Plain White T’s. Their first record was a fun party record, and they put on a good live show. They have that pop-punk sound that is always great for a party or camping, but musically it was amateur. With Every Second Counts, they try to take themselves a little more seriously, and it works, kind of. What Every Second Counts lacks in snappy songs and pop catchiness, it makes up for in a little experimentation. Plus, it’s hard to deny the first single “Hate (I Really Don’t Like You)”, which tried to explain the difference between hate and disgust.

I like that PWT’s have tried to expand on their music and add some musical elements that were lacking in their first record, but when they try to mimic Fall Out Boy the songs lose their originality and, lets face it, their dignity. Thankfully that only happens two or three times at most, as the rest of the record keeps it interesting with tracks like “You and Me”. The lyrics may be a little uncreative (“you and me make a good you and me”?) but the guitars deliver a catchy riff. The PWT’s then get all serious on us with “Friends Don’t Let Friends Dial Drunk”, which will probably be the next single.

I like that they don’t play the emo card, but that also limits them. While emo may be a small field of sounds to work with, pop-punk is an even smaller field. It gets hard to distinguish one song from another when they are all pulled from the same chord structure, and Every Second Counts does suffer a little from that. All in all though they kept me as a fan, but they can’t hold this pattern forever. Next time, they need to give the songs more time to grow before they put them down on tape.

5 out of 10
-B

If you like this record, try:

Plain White T’s – All That We Needed
The Matches – Decomposer
The Academy Is… - Almost Here