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Hawthorne Heights disc plummets below expectations

Date 2/23/2006 12:00 AM | Topic: Arts & Culture

Hawthorne Heights
"If Only You Were Lonely"
Victory Records
2006

As we progress through the eighth week of the calendar year, fans of pop-punk, emo and post hard-core genres are having an abysmal time finding a record to serve as a soundtrack for the semester.

Recent releases from these genres have done nothing but lead fans straight to the dumpster in 2006.

Yellowcard's January release "Lights and Sounds" arrived watered-down and bland while Matchbook Romance's new release "Voices" is void of any memorable melodies.

The disappointment continues for fans of the Ohio-based quintet as Hawthorne Heights follows suit to lyrical emptiness.

The band puts their best foot forward on the opening track "This is Who We Are" as choppy guitars race over the thunderous bass drum and slaps on the snare from drummer Eron Buciarelli.

The composition causes a listener's memory to revert to Hawthorne Height's 2004 release "The Silence in Black and White" as the abrupt distortion pulses onward.

The lead vocals of J.T. Woodruff slide in on a high-pitched, barely audible whisper in direct contrast to the opening screams of the previous release on Victory Records. The listener is surrounded by an unsettling familiarity when Woodruff's voice drops and is backed by the throaty screams of guitarist Casey Calvert for the redundant chorus that sets the record's morbid theme: "You tried your best and you knew it wouldn't last / these are the words that she placed on her casket."

Outside the bounds of the lead track, Hawthorne Heights wanders without direction or purpose within an overdone genre. Influences from their punk and emo brethren show through as the melodic screams dwindle and fade from the background making space for the occasional cheerless vocal hook.

The rockers trade core for the pop-punk rhythmic guitar sounds of Midtown and uneven, nasally choruses that parallel Amber Pacific.

The most vulnerable component of the album is the lack of maturity in the lyrics.

Most emerging artists take care to explicitly show development in lyrical expression on a sophomore release. Conversely, Hawthorne Heights appear to have taken a step backward as they furnish over-dramatic and over-emotional lyrics that seem best suited for a ninth-grade love affair.

For example, on the track "We Are So Last Year" Woodruff and company sing: "I just wanted you to know / I think about you every night / when I fall asleep."

The group bottoms out on the acoustic "Decembers," which can only be described as kitsch and cutesy. Perhaps its purpose is to provide some contrast at the end of the album, but the sugary lyrics will surprise anyone familiar with Hawthorne Height's sound: "You don't have to speak / because I can hear your heart beat / fluttering like butterflies searching for a drink."

"If Only You Were Lonely" is not the answer to your desires for integral tunes in 2006. Nor is it assumable that fans of the first Hawthorne Heights record will enjoy or appreciate this one.

The album is available to the general public Feb. 28, but fans of the genre should instead look ahead to upcoming releases from Bad Religion and From First to Last.

--

Michael "Coz" Lindsay

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