Rocky Loves Emily

Secrets Don't Make Friends

Written by: PP on 01/10/2012 06:41:41

"Secrets Don't Make Friends" is the title of the debut album by upcoming pop rockers Rocky Loves Emily. As its title suggests, they write music that's geared at fragile teenagers who aren't sure about anything in life, as such their cliché pop rock will probably sink into these kinds of audiences like there's no tomorrow. For the more critical audiences and those who have developed their tastes a little more, Rocky Loves Emily will come across as nothing more but a shallow pop rock band with a couple of catchy songs and a lot of boring piano-driven ballads that sound literally like every single other band out there writing slow ballads of this kind (think the likes of Yellowcard, The Maine, etc). Except these are driven with a decided silliness that reflects a teenager's worldview and not that of 20somethings. Or as TL so pointedly noted in our staff forums, he'd rather stab himself in the ears than listen to this album.

That said, every now and then they up the tempo and deliver undeniably catchy polished pop rock tunes with danceable rhythms and beats, such as on the opener "Be Mine Tonight" or on "Drivin' Me Crazy". They're superficial and very cliché for sure, but at least they are catchy. After all, All Time Low and Simple Plan have an audience, too, despite not exactly being the critic's favorites. These bands alongside The Maine are also the closest counterparts to Rocky Loves Emily, which is to say that the band sneak in some extremely polished and poppy pop punk sounds into the mix on occasion, but have very clearly focused on the pop part of the genre, resulting in a The All-American Rejects style alternative pop/rock. It's definitely extremely cheesy and sounds more or less like every other band playing this type of music, which contributes to the feeling that these are the same recycled songs we've heard now for the better part of the last 15 years now from other pop/rock hybrids.

"Secrets Don't Make Friends" is fortunately not as awful as it could've been, if you opt to take it lightly and not as a serious contender for acclaim, critical or otherwise. Almost all songs are catchy and radio ready, but their problem lies more in the field of longevity. How many listens to "Nightmare" can you manage before you're bored out of your mind? For this scribe, going beyond four listens to the album's songs seems like an implausible task precisely because the record is so shallow in its content. For teenagers though, this is pure gold.

Download: Be Mine Tonight, Drivin' Me Crazy
For the fans of: The Maine, All Time Low, Simple Plan, Mayday Parade
Listen: Facebook

Release date 24.04.2012
Tooth & Nail Records

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