Cute Is What We Aim For - The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch (2006)

Grades:
Overall: B
Music: C
Vocals: A-
Lyrics: B
Creativity: B-
Catchiness: A

So this is what scene music fans used to get all worked up over. If Cute Is What We Aim For and Panic (then Panic!) At The Disco were the worst pop that the scene could offer, then 2006 wasn't that bad. Look at the bands now - Breathe Carolina, BrokeNCYDE, Millionaires...they make CIWWAF look like The Beatles. Anyhow, this band was never that bad, and their debut album, The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch, still gets plays on my iTunes. And if you enjoy the pop side of pop/punk, they probably will for you too.

If Panic! At The Disco hadn't added a cabaret feel, this is what their debut would've sounded like. Singer Shaant Hacikyan has a way of emoting over rather simple musical parts that gives the songs an extra oomph, and CIWWAF's sardonic lyrics, full of puns, may be what turned many listeners off to them. But they're something different, and in this music connoisseur's opinion, that can never be negative. "Newport Living" gives a taste of what's to come on its first a capella line, "everyone's a letdown, it just depends on how far down they can go," then proceeds through pop/punk numbers about the scene drama surrounding the band ("There's A Class For This"), an acousticy pop/rock song about one-night stands ("The Fourth Drink Instict"), and sexy pieces about hooking up with suburban women ("I Put The Metro In Metronome").

But the band does go a little too far sometimes. Lyrically, they get almost stupid on the otherwise catchy "The Curse Of Curves" when they sing "her bone structures scream 'touch her! touch her!'," and on "Risque" with the line "grammatically speaking, you're adorable." No shit, dumbass. Of course it's grammatical. It's a sentence. And this is all not mentioning that they stick a pop track ("Moan") in between two rather mediocre acoustic tracks. Summarily, The Same Old Blood Rush... is far from a masterpiece, even for a pop album, but it is highly listenable and, more importantly, unique enough to garner attention nationwide. And I applaud them for that, if nothing else.

For a shit-ton of faux-witty one-liners, enjoyable and quirky pop, mowing the lawn. Try "There's A Class For This," "Newport Living," "The Curse Of Curves," and "The Fourth Drink Instinct."

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