It’s a general policy of mine to hate any and all emo/pop/punk bands. The utter lack of originality in this genre has to be the only reason that people keep paying even a smidgen of attention to Fall Out Boy or Saves the Day. Being a relatively old fart I actually remember when emo had legitimate ties to punk rock. Fuck man, I grew up in Washington DC, I knew Rites of Spring and you, my young friends, are no Rites of Spring. All such charges are overdone anyway. Emo as a genre is dead. Let it go or at least make up a new name. Such terms are more often shunned then embraced these days. What we’re hearing now are the meek remains of what has gone before, the naked ambitions, the blatant plays for stardom. There is no sincerity left here, it is a formulaic means to an end, packaged and wrapped and presented. There isn’t even a deviation in vocal cadence from band to band anymore and a single melody seems to be passed around like a drunk girl at a party in the unfinished cul de sac.

So with that said, is it possible that Valencia can rescue the whole bleeding mess? No. Putting the album’s lead single aside, the super catchy “The Space Between” which now lives in the same box of guilty pleasure that holds Poison’s “Every Rose Has a Thorn” and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”, This Could Be a Possibility is more of the same: The power chords are played, the poses are struck, the lyrics are all heartbreak and waxy solitude.

This Could Be a Possibility isn’t a bad record. It’s simply an unoriginal one. The musicianship is fine, there’s even a hint of passion now and then, but it’s a sound that you can find blasting through just about any suburb in America. Go ahead and download “The Space Between” from iTunes, it’s worth the .99 cents. The rest is a story you’ve already heard.

• "The Space Between" Video
• Multiple songs MySpace