The All-American Rejects

Move Along – (Interscope/Doghouse)

The border patrol and genre cops must be busy.  Why does this band always seem to be filed in the “Punk” or “Alternative” sections of record stores (the big chains, anyway)?  I guess it’s for the same reason that a friend’s daughter explained that she was “into punk – Avril Lavigne, Smashmouth…stuff like that”.  I imagine that’s the audience that would lump The All-American Rejects into that profile.  Cranky elder that I am, these whippersnappers need a lesson quick!

That aside, Move Along finds The All-American Rejects not sounding much like rejects or like all-Americans at all.  Rather, they continue their overtly sentimental pop-rock stylings with vocals that always sound like vocalist Tim Rice is either running out of breath or on the verge of tears.  Like Trix, The All-American Rejects are for kids.  This’ll be the soundtrack for plenty of after-prom parties.

They try hard to add a little menace on songs like “Night Drive”, but then have number like the, uh, ridiculous “Dance Inside” pretty much nullifying that ambition. Throughout much of Move Along, the band adopts an almost mechanical sound – there’s little that sounds intuitive or instinctive here.  You want “produced”?  THIS is “produced”!

The best thing I can say about Move Along is that certain parts are indeed catchy, and I was able to get through it in one sitting (unlike, say, The Darkness). Not really the making of a worthwhile CD though, is it?

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