How to make music by numbers
The first line of the press release reads: 'Multi platinum US artists Switchfoot' - it's enough to strike fear into you before you've even put the CD on. It's got the grand, sweeping melodies, it's got the fuzzy vocals, and it's got the rock undertones - and it sounds just like the Calling and Feeder mixed together, which is a strange combination. It's not helped by the opening lyrics: 'Welcome to the planet/Welcome to existence' starts me worrying whether it's going to be Savage Garden-like. It's not that bad, but the quiet-loud-quiet-loud path is a well-trodden one.
Not only that, the more I listen to this, the more I realise that 'Dare You to Move' is pretty emo. After all, there's the singer who, in trying to sound passionate and edgy on the chorus, ends up sounding strained instead. Put that together with the jangly acoustic guitar throughout the whole song, and you've got a recipe for a really irritating tune.
I suppose I should give them credit for trying, but this is so standard and boring that I'm hard pushed to do so. This is a waste of time and effort.