Premiere Red Jumpsuit Apparatus album ‘fakes it’
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Don’t You Fake It
[Virgin; 2006]
Grade: C
Don’t You Fake It, the premiere effort of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, a pop-punk-emo-screamo export from the humble city of Middleburg, Florida, is nothing more than an ambitious attempt at establishing themselves as an alternative to the usual Top 40 lollipop punk rock.
Lyrically stunted and tragically overproduced, this band falls short of their predecessors – noted bands like New Found Glory and Blink-182.
Listening to this CD you can strain your ears and make out the faint sound of pounding Converse shoes on a packed dance floor in a seedy club boasting a mostly underage emo-punk crowd.
While revisiting the themes of so many self-deprecating and slighted bands before them, “I’m not satisfied with where I’m at in life,” sings lead vocalist Ronnie Winter in “Cat and Mouse,” this young band fails to deliver the kind of innovative sound and quality they so eloquently promise on their Web site.
Peddling androgyny and depression, there seems to be an overwhelming familiarity with their fan base almost to the point of expertly catering to their tastes – perhaps even to the point of abandoning any artistic integrity and bordering plagiarism.
The only redeeming effort on the CD, “Cat and Mouse” is a melancholic ballad that promises to provide an insightful base for its yearning and oftentimes misunderstood underage fan.
Overall, there isn’t enough substance to legitimize this band as a power player in the elite realm of the pop-punk genre, especially while bands like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance monopolize the airwaves.