This one’s going to be short, because there’s only so much you can say about a band whose style seems to be almost completely derivative. Derivative of pretty bad music at that. I always like to do a little research about a band before I write an article about them, and here’s an interesting little tidbit I drew up about The Riddlin’ Kids: Seventeen Magazine (that’s right, Seventeen) described them as “Blink-182 laced with Eve 6” (Sep 2002). Doesn’t that make you want to go out and buy their album right this second? Doesn’t it?! I think that that was supposed to be a compliment—with reviewers like that, I sure wouldn’t want critics—but, to be fair, it’s an inaccurate description of the band. They’re twice the band that Eve 6 is, with Blink added in for good measure; okay, half of Blink. The wussy half.
The biggest problem with these guys is that their whole concept needs reconceptualizing. They took all of the musical simplicity, lyrical superfluity, and pointless misogyny of low quality punk bands, and then they took out any kind of edge that would at least make the music have force and emotion. This seems to me to be the mission statement of almost every pop/punk band that’s been choking the American airwaves since the mid 90’s. From the opening repetitive bass line to the last power chord in a major key, this album offers absolutely nothing but pop fluff and nearly nothing you haven’t heard before. I had read that this band was hip, edgy, forceful and irreverent, and I kept waiting for these qualities to hit me, but they never did. I listened to it twice more after my initial screening, and my original impression never changed. I promise I won’t listen to it again; I’ll probably just pass it along to my sister, who can give it to one of her poser friends with very conspicuously pink hair.
The music is completely forgettable, but if the lyric writing was decent, the band might have something salvageable to it. As an English scholar, I am a sucker for good poetry, but I didn’t have to worry about complexly mixed feelings when reviewing this album. Nearly every song is about, guess what?, yup, you got it, girls. Not to imply that there’s anything wrong with tragic love songs, because that’s a rock staple, but they have nothing interesting to say on the subject, nor do they say anything in an interesting way. Some girls are really mean. Some are really great, but it’s hard to get with them. Getting your heart broken feels bad. Do I need The Riddlin’ Kids to tell me these things? Their cover of REM’s competent hit, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” is an inadequate attempt at adding introspective wisdom and musical depth to a completely unremarkable piece of work. Having one song that demonstrates a social conscience, and someone else’s song at that, doesn’t cut it for establishing yourself as worldly activists. As far as musical depth, it’s good that they respect a diverse and un-punk band like REM, but, they probably should have chosen a less obvious song to cover if they wanted to show true understanding of the group. Furthermore, the song is one of those typical and annoying punk covers that plays the song at the exact same tempo, with the same lyrical rhythm, and many of the same riffs as the original. One can almost picture the thought process of bands that commit this heinous crime against music.
“Hey, let’s take that cool old song and play it exactly the same, except we’ll heavily distort the chorus! Oi!”
“Yeah, that would sound great!”
No. No, it does not sound great, so stop doing it. Please.
The one, and only, good thing to say about this album is that it features a slight degree of technical ability that most bands in this genre can’t match. Occasionally, there is a song that allows the bass player or lead guitarist to cut loose (“Crazy” and “Blind,” respectively). Even these solos, though, are far too short and still wholly uninspired. These solos reek of the “obligatory rockin’ out” ethic that all unoriginal mainstream bands think they need to make it. Noting all of the negative things I have said, I will have to admit that there may be many people who enjoy their music. The Riddlin’ Kids sound exactly like every other whining, sugary, pseudo-punk band that you will hear on corporate radio station “X.” These bands don’t get popular because everyone hates them. Songs such as “Pick Up the Pieces” and “Faithful” are marked for commercial success. Thus, I have an intuition that we may hear from this band in a much more prominent position. For myself, however, I like my punk furious and angry, and all other music intricate and artistic. The Riddlin’ Kids possess none of these qualities, and I think that anyone who even slightly shares my taste should skip over this album at all costs. |