PopSyndicate.com

The release of Plain White T’s second album confirms them as a soon to be one hit wonder.

I’m a fan of “Hey There Delilah”. “Hate (I Really Don’t Like You)” lives on my ipod. I was crazy excited to get the new cd by Plain White T’s, Big Bad World, and when I gave it a listen, I was deeply disappointed. The first cd from this Illinois band, Every Second Counts, was decent, and ultimately, outshined by the single “Hey There Delilah”, which struck a major chord with girls everywhere. It’s an utterly beautiful song, and well deserving of all the praise it’s brought the band. Unfortunately, there’s nothing on their new CD that could say the same.

The sound that resonated throughout Every Second Counts (“Delilah” aside) is nowhere to be found here, and although a couple of songs call back to “Delilah”, it becomes painfully obvious, in listening to Big Bad World, that it was a fluke. This album sounds like something that would have been featured prominently in the bombed film That Thing You Do. Everything here is boppy poppy and utterly forgettable. “Big Bad World” has a sound that is eerily familiar, and when listening to it one can conjure up any number of songs – one of the stranger ones I could hear was Tom Petty’s “Free Falling”. I understand that musicians, like writers, often borrow from each other, but this song seriously felt too familiar to be good.

“Natural Disaster” is another poppy song, and it’s pretty likable – especially the ‘Oh!’ in the chorus. “Terrible Mistake” is completely forgettable, while “1,2,3,4” is a little clever with the chorus lyrics, and has an opening that’s Beatles-esque, only this time the callback to another band’s sound is well utilized. “That Girl” is a little love song that really captures my feelings about the album as a whole. “Sunlight” tries very hard to tap into the “Delilah” vibe, but misses by a long shot, having almost a country twang to it. “I Really Want You” has – bizarrely – a harmonica featured in the song. Otherwise it’s interchangeable with any of the other boppy songs on this album. “Someday” is another, and perhaps the most successful, callback to “Delilah” – there is even the telltale sting accompaniment. It’s possibly the best song on the cd (save the chorus; the chorus kind of ruins the whole song), and that isn’t saying much.

All in all, this album is one big let down. Call it the sophomore slump, but I feel that, depressingly, Plain White T’s won’t really make it. Even their contribution to the Nightmare Revisited album is a slow bore. There’s nothing coming from the band that makes me believe in their longevity. It’s sad but true.

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