Long Since Forgotten

The sophomore effort from Syracuse's Long Since Forgotten is a sophomoric effete.

The band is big on bittersweet pop hooks that don't stray very far from Hey Mercedes and Jimmy Eat World's camp (notably more the latter than the former), but their nice little formula turns from well-put tunes in the first half to flat-out filler in the second.

"Prize Fighter" and "Don't Ask Why" make for a good one-two punch (or at least, the sugar content of the Hawaiian kind) in the beginning, even if by the following track the band already felt it appropriate to sit down (rather unjustifiably considering the album title) and croon out a ballad ("Looking Glass"). "On My Way" offers the best proof that the vocalist has been reading up on his personal guide of How to Sing Like Jim Adkins..and Other 'Clarity'-Related Tips, while the forty-second "10:18, Press Return" is an one-verse intermission with an awkward ending considering its uptempo frame.

This is where the problem starts.

Practically identical to one of the worst issues about major label albums, the tempo all but dies in the last handful of tracks. Nothing sticks out; nothing is memorable. They keep a flow at least, and some of them even have these promising openings, but the feel of the song fails to be captured throughout its entire duration.

Ed Rose is at the knobs for this and does a magnificent job as usual. The guitars and bass fill up the sound in varied ways, and the vocals sound like a soothing layer over the whole thing. But he's not Merlin, and can't perform magic tricks to make Standing Room Only as cohesive as it could be.

Another release or so, and the band just may be able to avoid the fate predetermined by their name.

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