The sooner someone invents the wuss-rock genre, the sooner I can pigeonhole bands like Waking Ashland. With a sound so sweet and innocent, WA are comparable to the 14 year old daddy's girl who plays in corn fields and still listens to the Spice Girls. As safe as houses, they have come along away from a promising debut EP and, to be fair, this new album does show some musical maturity which they've clearly built on since 2003. But it's oh so very safe...
'The Well' is a grower. It doesn't have hit song after hit song; it's melodies are slow burners and the choruses are catchy yet not overly so. It's hardly the sound of the underground, but it is an attempt to try and stray from the sound that attracted the attention of the larger labels. And while it's still safe as houses in a musical sense, there are some good tunes here. 'Money' and 'Mark Like Mine' stand out as two of the more poppy moments, while the whistful piano-rock of 'Salt Like Jam' highlights the musical maturity I mentioned earlier.
If you liked the last album, or the EP, you can expect to like this. But like many bands before them, Waking Ashland just miss out on being great. There are better acts with better songs, but in the short-run Waking Ashland will keep you up and smiling.
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