Windy City power-poppers go the distance

The Audition - Champion
Posted by Laila Hanson on 29-May-08 @ 12:09 PM

[4.5/5]
The Audition have that whole "Chicago thing" going on, with an infectious poppy/punky/funky sound that falls right in step with fellow scenesters like the Academy Is..., Plain White T's and of course, the Pete Wentz gang. But as comparisons go, the aforementioned aren't exactly poor musical company: Much like Fall Out Boy's latest, Champion is a sublime exercise in power-pop songcraft, jam-packed with surprising melodic twists and turns and a healthy splash of groove, placing the Audition pretty far from the land of white-boy pop-punk. "What Gets You Through The Night" shifts seamlessly from a huge pop hook to a rolling reggae bridge; "Have Gun, Will Travel" drawls like a modern-day soundtrack for a Clint Eastwood Western; and "Hell To Sell" is the kind of thumping dance rock that has Maroon 5-adoring housewives everywhere shakin' it. What's equally impressive is amid all the window dressing, the Audition never lose their crunch, as evidenced on riff-heavy tracks like "Ether," which sports a tasty little breakdown, and the opening "Basbhat," which fools at first with its dance-y verse, before delivering the goods with a real head-bopper of a chorus. Chi-town, you've done it again. (VICTORY) Brendan Manley

Rocks Like:
Plain White T's' All That We Needed
Fall Out Boy's Infinity On High
Sugarcult's Palm Trees And Power Lines


Official Website: http://www.victoryrecords.com


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