Quantcast

Call for Music Critics and Music Bloggers

Music
cover art

Secondhand Serenade

A Twist in My Story

(Glassnote; US: 19 Feb 2008; UK: Available as import)

John Vesely’s second album finds him supported by a full band this time around. And with the production help of Butch Walker and Danny Lohner, Secondhand Serenade sounds first rate for the Warped Tour tween or teen demographic. That’s not to say that everything sounds original or unpolished. In fact “Like a Knife” sounds like something Angels & Airwaves tossed aside at the last minute before their latest record. It’s good but it’s been done to death, an earnest attempt at rock that is terribly telegraphed. The same can be said for the emo-saturated “Fall For You” which brings to mind Simple Plan. Alienation and angst is the order of most of the songs, including the melodramatic “Maybe” and the equally safe and heartfelt “Your Call”. The biggest snag here is how so much of Vesely’s performances seem interchangeable, the only aberration from this is “Suppose” which has a certain melodic, Smashing Pumpkins hue to it. Vesely yet again wears his heart on his sleeve during “Why”, but by this point, one wonders why he has not occasionally challenged himself or the listener.

Rating:

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


Media
Secondhand Serenade - Your Call
Comments
Now on PopMatters
Mommy Fearest: 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' (Blu-ray) (Short Ends and Leader) [Wed, 12:30 pm]
2012 Nelsonville Music Festival (Notes from the Road) [Wed, 12:00 pm]
20 Questions: Hannibal Buress (Sound Affects) [Wed, 11:00 am]
Cannes 2012: 'Reality' + 'In the Fog' (Reviews) [Wed, 8:08 am]
Love, and Other Indelible Stains (Columns) [Wed, 2:00 am]
Sigur Rós: Valtari (Reviews) [Wed, 2:00 am]
Lemonade: Diver (Reviews) [Wed, 2:00 am]
Cory Branan: Mutt (Reviews) [Wed, 2:00 am]
Big Science: Difficulty (Capsule Reviews) [Wed, 2:00 am]
  1. The Top 10 Overplayed Songs You Hate by Artists You Love (Sound Affects)
  2. Tea with 'Sherlock': Investigating the Investigators (Features)
  3. Sunk? This 'Battleship' Stunk! (Short Ends and Leader)
  4. Tenacious D: Rize of the Fenix (Reviews)
  5. 10 Pieces of Cinematic Art That Require Revisiting (Short Ends and Leader)
  6. She's a Rainbow: A Tribute to Donna Summer (Features)
  7. Punk Rock's Pet Sounds: An Interview with Bomb the Music Industry! (Features)
  8. Counterbalance No. 82: U2's 'Achtung Baby' (Sound Affects)
  9. 'Albatross': A Not-So-Weighty Coming-of-Age Meets Mid-Life-Crisis Film (Reviews)
  10. The 10 Greatest Aspects of the 'Star Wars' Franchise (Short Ends and Leader)
  11. Counterbalance No. 83: The Stooges' 'Fun House' (Sound Affects)
  12. We Will Avenge Them Or… Be Avenged?: The Individual in the US Experience (Features)
  13. The Queen and Her Crayons: An Interview With Donna Summer (Features)
  14. Early Summer 2012 New Music Playlist (Mixed Media)
  15. Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music (Reviews)
  16. The Best Canadian Records of the Year? The Fun Agony of Voting for the Polaris Prize Long List (Sound Affects)
  17. Sherlock Holmes, Dirk Gently and the Case of the Eccentric Detective (Columns)
  18. Flash Points: Mommy's Breast, Marriage Equality and Why Chipotle Is King (Features)
  19. Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death (Columns)
  20. In Support of Supports (Moving Pixels)
  21. Saint Etienne: Words and Music (Reviews)
  22. Flash Points: Chicks, Sluts and Facebook (Features)
  23. In Defense Of... Rock Radio: A Force in Popular Culture (Columns)
  24. Garbage: Not Your Kind of People (Reviews)
  25. The Cult: Choice of Weapon (Reviews)
  26. Willie Nelson: Heroes (Reviews)
  27. The Walkmen: Heaven (Reviews)
  28. 'People's Pornography': The Mundanities of Pornography and Surveillance Culture (Reviews)
  29. Feeling '80s Spirit: Post-Hardcore Punk for the Plastic Generation (Columns)
  30. Various Artists: Occupy This Album (Reviews)
PM Picks
Music Archive
Announcements

© 1999-2012 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved.
PopMatters.com™ and PopMatters™ are trademarks
of PopMatters Media, Inc.

PopMatters is wholly independently owned and operated.
PopMatters is a member of BUZZMEDIA Music, MOG and Guardian Select.