Permanent Me

After the Room Clears, the debut full-length from Long Island’s Permanent Me, manages to bring to the table the same blend of rock and pop-punk that has been done so many times before that it’d be easy to dismiss the album prior to even listening to it. And while originality isn’t the high point for this four-piece, the band has still managed to garner numerous positive reviews and a decent amount of press coverage, all claiming that this band has what it takes to be the next breakout band, or should I say, the ‘flavor of the week’ band.

Well, when push comes to shove, all I can say is better luck next time. After the Room Clears isn't necessarily a terrible album...it just goes nowhere. Not only that, it goes nowhere so slowly, that it makes it hard to even get through a couple of the songs in a row. While this style normally manages to keep an upbeat pace, just about every song on here follows the same structured, medium pace, making the entire album just plod along. Sure, the singing is pretty good and the instruments sound great, but that’s all thanks to the production budget and the use of Auto-Tune.

The album is so watered down and lacking of direction that it becomes entirely apparent this band has a production budget to make them sound good, but little else. “Until You Leave,” “Allison,” “Heartattack,” “4 AM,” and “Christine” kick off the album and they all sound like the exact same. The occasional hook that shows up from time to time throughout the album can’t save it from becoming one of the more monotonous releases unleashed in a while.

After the Room Clears may sound amazing according to some, but tedious and watered down third-rate radio rock with second-rate pop-punk influences don’t make for a great album. There are simply a number of better options than listening to a band that you’ll completely forget about the second after you hit the stop button.