Caffeine are a strange beast; a band that in this country couldn't get arrested and yet in America they're playing Bamboozle and are part of a MySpace-sponsored tour. This record is extremely polished and a little bit of a departure from their previous, more skate-punk influenced sound. This time round we have keys and 'programming' added into the mix, resulting in a sound which, unfortunately, has been done many times before. It's not bad - certainly better than most attempts - but it does come across as a bit heard-it-all-before.
While there are many pop-punk moments and the kind of sound I'd become accustomed to hearing from Caffeine, the introduction of a keyboard and sonme slower songs, while mixing the sound up a little, ultimately leaves this a little too clean-cut. It's perfect background music for The OC, so if you like bands with that kind of sound, this may well surprise you. And while 'Symphony' is far from being a bad record, it's just a little too derivative and clean cut for my liking. To say the change of sound is there to cash in on a trend would be a bit harsh, but you do have to wonder whether this was written with a trend in mind...
www.caffeineuk.com
Caffeine Records
paul
