Ronnie Day: The Album

Ronnie Day’s second album is along the lines of fellow younger musicians like Teddy Geiger. But it doesn’t distract from the fact he can pen a pretty nifty radio-friendly pop song like Howie Day. This is apparent on “Half Moon Bay”, a none too slick song touched up with layered harmonies. Just as pleasing is the steady “November Storms”, sounding rather like Wheatus, Simple Plan or All American Rejects. Day also can deliver the good on the mellow, mid-tempo pop ballads like “Living For Love” and “Lived Learned Love & Lost”. However, he gets much too sappy for the singer-songwriter ballad “Written at a Rest Stop”, resembling a mature Simple Plan. Why anyone needs four interludes in an album is beyond me. They add nothing to the album whatsoever. And “Insert 2” is utter garbage! Sweet, earnest numbers like “Coming Home Soon” tend to start sounding like earlier Hanson-ish tracks. One of the better efforts is the orchestral-tinged “Outside”, which builds into a powerful song. Another above average treat has to be “My Only Friend” that tends to go down the same road as “Outside”. But “Falling For You” is mediocre at best, relying too much on a dreamy pop arrangement that goes downhill faster.