Let's face it: Vagrant Records doesn't take many chances. By relying on mostly surefire signees (see: Senses Fail's new album, From Autumn to Ashes after a smash debut on Ferret, Moneen and The Get Up Kids after promising debuts on slightly more obscure labels, Dashboard Confessional after a Drive-Thru stint, Saves The Day after a successful pair of great albums on Equal Vision, et al), Vagrant has succeeded in this failsafe method and shot to near the top of the indie label hot list, assuming your judgments align with actual major / independent label standards.
So of course, just to spite all the naysayers, the label picks up Down To Earth Approach out of Bumblefuck, New York. The band's hotly derivative emo / power-pop / pop-rock style is done and done, with its standard nasal/whine hybrid and unthreatening tempo. Another Intervention is still chock full of catchy choruses and cute little hooks, but there isn't much more to it. Just about any song on the album could be a single. It's consistent, that's for sure, but mostly because every track strongly relies on a single formula. "Books On Tape" and "Living Rooms" are the closest the band comes to offering something drastically different from the rest of disc, either ever-so-slightly taking the pace down a bit or including some surface-sunk acoustics, respectively. Think the song structure of "Ten Minutes"-era Get Up Kids with a Four Minute Mile maturity.
As a bit of a footnote (or further support in the accusations of style copycatting), the first three seconds of "Triple Black" sounds exactly like the intro of Something Corporate's "Space." When the lead vocalist sings "be home" over gentle electric strumming, I can't help but think that SoCo's single must've popped up one day on DTEA's practice space radio.
Down to Earth Approach really expresses a style implied by their name. Their friendly songs will put their arm around you and tell you everything's going to be alright, but they won't be the answer to your quest for something completely new, fresh, and engaging.
STREAM THE ENTIRE ALBUM
e-card