Offering no lingual inflection in the vocals seems odd when considering the Germanic nature of the Donots, a band which could easily have heralded from the sunny and seemingly punk riddled state of California. Sounding convincingly non-continental, i’m not sure whether this aspect works in their favour; presumably the band felt the need to appeal to a more universal audience.
As if we weren’t up to our neck in them, the Donots are another typically pop punk band – don’t write them off yet though, as there is some catchy music to be heard, if that’s your thing. ‘I Quit’ starts with a couple of screams and quickly settles into a tried-and-tested pattern, unfortunately enough, with the simple ‘I surrender’ serving as the brunt of a sadly lacking chorus. ‘Whatever happened to the 80s’ has a mildly amusing theme to it, but slowly begins to wear thin upon repeat listenings; references to Rick Astley and Frankie Goes to Hollywood have token value, but the song lacks the enthusiasm that could have been present, but sing-a-long material it probably is. Probably. ‘Superhero’ is a massive improvement, if not only for the funky opening riff; the Donots seem under no illusion as to the direction they wish to take with their songs – you can expect a similar progression and style within each song, and sometimes they hit, sometimes miss; but ‘Superhero’ has that little touch of magic which makes a good song – helped mostly by the quality of the vocals, both backing and lead, which make what would merely have been average song very listenable.
‘Today’ keeps the trend going with what is essentially unspectacular progression and lack of technicality, but annoyingly easy on the ear, which for the casual listener will definitely suffice. ‘Don’t You Know’ starts off disappointingly, but gathers pace only to halt the build and install a particularly sombre chorus, quite surprisingly; ending far slower and subdued than it started out.
Listening to ‘Room with a view (Give me Shelter)’ it’s possibly you’ve already had your fair share of Donots – short bursts are the key, but extended listening will result unfortunately in a degree of tedium. Having said that, it is reasonable enough, but there isn’t anything here to buck a trend or demand a place on more than one of your mix tapes. ‘Watch you Fall’ is once again well enough executed – but adds to an air of mediocrity which comes dangerously close to engulfing the album. ‘In Too Deep’ follows a similar line, blending into the crowd rather than shoving it’s hand up in the hair and demanding attention.
‘Hot Rod’ and ‘Jaded’ are branded somewhat reluctantly as filler, not least due to the cliched lyrics which rear their ugly head ‘Can you still remember those summer nights? Can you still remember the lines to our favourite songs?’ – perhaps my cynicism is getting the better of me, but please, we’ve heard it all before. Lyrical innovation seems to be getting thinner on the ground as time goes on – in ‘Radio Days’ anomalous shouting does little to help it, but give it time and it does grow slowly, extremely slowly on you.
Which goes for the album as a whole to be frank; it breaks no banks, it doesn’t even try to, a fact surely known by the Donots themselves. Nevertheless, it is reasonable listening, it just does little to satisfy a need for variety. If you have an insatiable appetite for pop punk (i’m looking at you new found glory fans), then this is yet another cd for you to look at. Personally, I’d rather hold out for something a little different.
nick