Artist vs Poet – Favorite Fix

Claiming that a new release is good relative to most of Fearless Records’ recent releases is like stating that you prefer one method of torture to another.  While one might find favour in a vicious lashing over an agonizing fingernail removal, most of us would sooner avoid both altogether.  And thus sums up my feelings towards Fearless Records’ latest release and Artist Vs Poet’s full-length debut, Favorite Fix.

The Texas based power-pop quintet fits right in with today’s legions of faceless, generic power-pop clones.  They’re the type where bubbly melodies and trend setting, face-covering hair go hand in hand for an inoffensive set of twelve entirely forgettable tracks.  But when it comes to Fearless Records and abominations like Breathe Carolina and Alelphia, forgettable is a compliment.  And to the benefit of Artist Vs Poet, they’re certainly one of the less over-produced bands on the Fearless roster.

Vocalist Tracy Thomason actually stands on his own, unaided by vocoders and electronic inflections, with synth-guided melodies only surfacing for a handful of tracks rather than on every one (the rave inspired title track could easily be done without).  He features a classic power-pop radio voice originally popularized by bands like All American Rejects, but with a comparatively delicate delivery (Thomason feels most at home on the album’s softest tracks like “We’re All The Same”).  Gang vocals surface during intros and choruses, contributing to that commercially pleasing “big” sound.  Occasionally he breaks into a rather foreign, shrill hardcore scream, that while contributing to overall album variety, feels forced and out of place.

Lyrically, the bad band plays it safe, gravitating towards flirty, girl-heavy lyrics.  Tracks like “Damn Rough Night” provide rather tame takes on turning twenty-one and going out drinking – with lines about apologizing to the “designated driver” and a nameless girl in his bed the next morning.  Furthermore, the jumpy sounding “Car Crash” entirely trivializes life-changing epiphanies, and “Adorable” fits in with every other track idolizing a teen crush from afar.

So in the end, Favorite Fix comes across as forgettable and generic.  With Artist Vs Poet recycling major trends in safe, commercially viable ways, you’ve heard this brand of Vans Warped Tour diluting power-pop time and again.  They might not be as personally offensive as many other Fearless signees, but that’s not saying much.