The Little Heroes: Cinematic Americana

The pressing poppy-ness of Cinematic Americana, poppy-ness remnant of, say, Jimmy Eat World, had me feeling like I couldn’t really listen to the album unless it was… really LOUD. (Little Heroes even describe someone “beautiful” who seems to be in a car –- though I think the car is what is in motion in this song.) If you can get over the cliché in having to be told “these times are changed” and can handle some pretty predictable rhyming verses, the music that backs up the lyrics holds up pretty well. The more I listen to The Little Heroes, the more I have increasing visions of ’90s adult alternative bands that are probably best left unnamed. But, if we file this album into the slot it best fits –- as a record of pop proportions written by guys who’ve been doing this for a while now –- then we have to admit it’s a pretty good, with respect to the genre.