- Label
- Warners
- Release date
- 28th July 2008
- Genre
- Pop rock
- Buy this album
- Order CD
Banal Californian band are neither devilish nor angelic
Armed with the knowledge that the aggressively named Mêlée hail from California's Orange County, casual music fans might entirely reasonably expect them to purvey belligerent, truculent punk-pop à la Rancid or The Offspring. Instead, the amiable quartet churn out benign, piano-led angst-pop that would make a suitably bland addition to the soundtrack of the insipid teen-soap that takes its very name from their homeland: The O.C.
Still in their twenties, Mêlée have been together for the best part of a decade, yet while their musicianship is consequently slick and fluid, they are woefully short of inspiration. Unremarkable vocalist Chris Cron croons love-gone-wrong soft-rock epics and power ballads such as Can't Hold On and Biggest Mistake with an affability next to which Chris Martin sounds like Iggy Pop, while For A Lifetime recalls Hanson's horrible post-teen-pop move into adult rock.
They close with an utterly respectful cover of Hall & Oates' You Make My Dreams: it's really all you need to know.
More to try: Dashboard Confessional: The Shade Of Poison Trees Ben Folds: Rockin' The Suburbs Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American
