Rookie [NH]

Rookie [NH]: EP On YourselfEP On Yourself (2004)
self-released

Reviewer Rating: 1

Contributed by: danperroneDan Perrone
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on January 4th 2005To be perfectly honest, I don't have much to say about the four-piece pop-punk band from New Hampshire, Rookie, and their cringe-worthy titled EP On Yourself. There's really nothing noteworthy about them, but I'll try my very best. Rookie plays pop-punk...generic pop-punk, at that. There's nothin.

To be perfectly honest, I don't have much to say about the four-piece pop-punk band from New Hampshire, Rookie, and their cringe-worthy titled EP On Yourself. There's really nothing noteworthy about them, but I'll try my very best.

Rookie plays pop-punk...generic pop-punk, at that. There's nothing you haven't heard before to be found. But wait! There's also a keyboard! Many would think that, judging from the explosion of the keyboard in the music scene as of late, keys would improve the band's sound, making it that much catchier. Such is not the case for Rookie. The keyboard is actually annoying as all hell. It baffles me how anyone, especially those in the band, could think it sounds good. Aside from the atrocious inclusion of the keyboard, we've got some rehashed pop-punk riffs, awful lyrics, and, at the end of the day, nothing is memorable. I swear, I had to listen to this thing maybe five times to formulate a decent opinion on it, because it just bored me to death.

To give the band some credit, the lead vocals are fairly decent, and the first "song" (it's actually just an introduction of sorts), "I'm Sorry For Everything," sounds rather nice as well, with some cool effects and harmonization. It could actually make for a pretty good song if they built upon it and turned it into something complete, as opposed to just an intro. The production is well done, too; it makes bad songs sound somewhat alright, but not by much.

This was one of the hardest reviews I've had to write, simply because there's absolutely nothing to write about this band. They're generic and rather boring, and the blatant attempt at being trendy with the use of keyboards and pianos really lowers my already poor opinion of this band. I would suggest that the lead vocalist leave the band and take his talents elsewhere; they would be put to use much more effectively in a band that was actually good. I really don't know where you would run into this band or their music, because to my knowledge they're not too well known, but if you do, avoid at all costs.

Standout Tracks:
It sucks to say this, but there aren't any.

Listen to "So Quiet" off of EP On Yourself

Login to rate this album

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (March 18, 2005)

What makes this even funnier is that I heard the keyboardist actually works for punknews.org and he couldn't even convince them to write a good review.

Anonymous (March 11, 2005)

i cant decide which is better...rookie or winslow gray? i guess as long as brad is singing anything is good.

Anonymous (February 15, 2005)

No I agree. This album is so catchy, and even though there are only 6 songs, i find myself putting it on repeat nd listning to it over and over. Keep up the good work fellas.

Anonymous (February 1, 2005)

First of all, the lyrics aren't awful, they actually make sense not like the rest of the emo crap that's out there relating how you feel to a table or something. The lead vocals are really really good-props to Brad. EP on yourself shows how much Rookie has grown since the days of From Broken Wings. All of you who think Rookie sucks, take another listen because they're probably better than whatever you're listening to. Rookie is really one of the best bands i've ever heard, plus you guys are all really good looking which doesn't hurt.

Anonymous (January 11, 2005)

Ha...my score is for there being a band with the exact same name from Cleveland that plays the same kind of music.

Anonymous (January 10, 2005)

Ya I agree .... I thought that EP was good

You are a bad reviewer .... learn maybe how to play an instrument yourself.

Anonymous (January 10, 2005)

First off this band is a five piece and if you couldn't tell that from the songs you shouldnt be reviewing music.... cause you know nothing about it. You jump all over these band cause it had keyboards and yes the keyboard/ piano parts are kind of simple but its not the main focus of the music. The lead guitar and the drums are very well written and the second guitar, bass, and keyboard/piano parts fit in very well in the background and give their songs a full sound. This band is better than ALOT if not ALL of the Pop side of the scene.
I think that you are one of those people who just dis pop music just because of its label. You have no clue about what you are talking about and have no clue about Music. Its TC (Too Cool) kids like you that are the reason why this site is losing its creed, You should but kicked off the stuff!

This EP is Good and you should give it a listen!

inagreendase (January 8, 2005)

Wait, Trustkill?

Anonymous (January 7, 2005)

this name is a boy sets fire rip off

Anonymous (January 6, 2005)

I listened to "so quiet" and i have to say that even though it was extremly generic and their keyboardist don't really know how to play his instrument i totally can see these guys hook up with trustkill or something and release a pretty good cd. I mean, it's still 100 times better than the early november and fall out boy clones drive thru are signing...

Anonymous (January 5, 2005)

yeah, i've heard them.

they suck.

Anchors (January 4, 2005)

This is all pretty standard fare, so I agree with the score.

The lead singer kind of sounds like this Australian Pop Punk band I used to be all about. One Dollar Short was their name, not sure if anybody else heard them or not.

Anonymous (January 4, 2005)

I listened to their stuff at PureVOLUME I they absolutely don't deserve an 1/5 if the record is in the same spirit as that track. It was good. Just because a band sounds like 1000 other bands, it does not automatically mean they suck and should quit playing. Give the band a chance.

Anonymous (January 4, 2005)

man, i thought this was a review for the jersey emo band THE rookie.

purevolume.com/therookie

oh wait, they still suck.

Anonymous (January 4, 2005)

I think AFIs newest effort is good and u all are fags lol