Danger Radio - Used and Abused

Dance rock has become a genre du jour, and Danger Radio released "Used and Abused" a bit late in the day. A style pioneered by bands like Panic! At The Disco, Cobra Starship, and even a bit by Fall Out Boy, pre-pubescent girls have latched onto it like...well, pre-pubescent girls.

Comprised of approximately one-third synthesizers, one-third over-saturated guitar, and one-third drum machine beats, "Used and Abused" is a perfect example of how to be average. The lyrics are sub-par and are mostly about girls, and losing them. The vocal melodies are uninspired and contrived, and the singer's voice isn't particularly good. He's not necessarily a bad singer, it's just he doesn't have a great voice. He doesn't show much range, save for a few breaks into a weak falsetto, attempting to channel Maroon 5, and subsequently failing. Speaking of Maroon 5, there are a few songs on this album that actually feel like they were deliberately modeled after "This Love," with the piano-enhanced bass-line and jingly, continual high-notes.

Much of the album is digital based, and a surprisingly annoying amount of the instrumentation and vocals on "Used and Abused" is computer-produced. If these guys actually have the resources, coordination, and money to pull of three-part, digitized, voice pedal'd vocal harmonies live, I'll definitely give them a little respect. Anyway, because of all the computer-produced parts, as well as their formula of using over-saturated guitar parts that just mirror the bass, their songs start to sound noticeably alike.

After listening to "Used and Abused," not one song really sticks out to me. I didn't particularly enjoy the album, and about halfway in, I started to wonder how much of it was left. Some of this music is catchy, but it's not catchy in a way that makes you wanna sing it. It's the kind of catchy that makes you almost embarrassed to remember it, two hours after you listened to it. It has mild vocal hooks, but not enough to pull you in unless you're something like a 15 year-old girl, in which case, Josh would like you to contact him immediately. The best way that I can describe the songs from "Used and Abused" is that it's myspace music. The kind of music you see your friends add to their profiles for a day or two, then never hear again. Danger Radio made a decent attempt to break into this genre, but with the hype for dance rock dying out, it's kinda too little, too late. Besides, this album's not breaking any ground in this genre anyway.

2/7