Hey Monday - Hold On Tight Review

Posted by Scott Rutherford on 10.10.2008

Nothing to see here....

These days music can be very much the same. We have genre casting down to such a science in order to market a product better you pretty much know what you’re getting. Take for instance Hey Monday, I get a promo version of their debut Hold on Tight to review via download with the simple descriptor “rock/powerpop, associates of Fall Out Boy on Pete Wentz’ label”.

And really, that’s all you need to know.

Now don’t get me wrong, Hey Monday have a tight sound, a decent vocalist and hooks to burn and I’m confident they will find an audience in the teen market that’s looking for something a few steps above Miley Cyrus but on a level playing field, Hey Monday sound more like a collective of ideas with a push into a specific market than an act out there doing it for themselves.

For instance, the white elephant in the room on this album is the fact that Hold on Tight seems hell bent on having the next version of Avril Lavigne's “Girlfriend” in the track listing. Seriously, nearly three quarter of this album has songs at the same tempo or the half-time version of. The producer needs to be taken to task because he did nothing to create definition in the songs in relation to each other.

Add to the fact that vocalist Cassadee Pope has obviously studied hard at the feet of Avril. While her voice is different enough, the inflictions, phrasing and the construction of the vocals and harmonies on these songs are dead ringers. Tone wise Pope comes off more like a tweenie Michelle Branch. While she certainly has chops and knows her craft, there’s not enough about her voice that would draw you and highlight as a reason to keep listening.

Musically you can throw a rock at any band from the past 3-4 years and you will hit an influence. Obviously Fall Out Boy need a mention in here since they play a big part in the set-up of this record. Other than that you have heaping of Blink-182, Panic at the Disco, Avril and most other pop bands trying to channel punk. It’s pleasant enough but nothing you haven’t heard before. The fact these guys live on Pete Wenz’s label should really say it all.

I guess this album highlights what works about a band like Fall Out Boy and why others are just playing catch up. While I’m not a fan of FOB, I can hum their melodies after one listen on the radio and know their vocalist upon hearing a few bars of melody. Hey Monday fail to get beyond who they sound like and not who they are.

Pick of the tracks here are “Arizona” which is their best attempt at matching their influences. I also didn’t mind album closer “6 Month” which worked for me more because its vocal and acoustic guitar change-up worked well against the sustained wall of sameness that is the rest of the album.

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The 411: I usually like to write longer reviews for albums but there isn’t much to say about Hold On Tight. With a release like this you know what you are getting and if you like this type of pretty, pop/punk then you will no doubt like what’s in here. If you swing a different way then nothing here is going to make you sit up and say “I’ve been mistaken all along!” So while I don’t mind some commercial punk, I didn’t really dig this. Thumbs down.

Final Score:  3.5   [ Bad ]