Breathe Carolina – Hello Fascination

Based on the few reviews I had read for Breathe Carolina’s Fearless Records debut, Hello Fascination, I was expecting to be genuinely offended by a misguided attempt at genre-mashing innovation.  So many reviews have compared Breathe Carolina crunkcore creators Brokencyde that I was getting ready to dig my teeth in pretty deep and rip into Hello Fascination without restraint.  Going by what I had heard of Breathe Carolina from Fearless’ Punk Goes Pop 2 I thought that such vicious reviews were likely well founded.  But then I actually listened to the album, and while it’s certainly not what I would consider “good,” or even satisfactory for that matter, it didn’t make my ears bleed (as bad) as I had initially thought.

When it comes right down to it, the entire outing is extremely predictable, and ultimately adds up to just another failed attempt at genre evolution.  In this case “evolution” refers to the tendency for pop artists to take whatever is currently “hot,” and mix it with whatever turns a profit.  It just happens that at this point in time the almighty dollar points to hot-topic marketed hardcore, Katy Perry shock-pop, dance-based hip-hop remixes, and the ever-present power-pop vocals of bands like Fall Out Boy.  In all honesty, based on vocalist David Schmitt’s voice, and the occasional straight forward, stripped down moment,Breathe Carolina could have ended up as a fairly decent, middle of the road power-pop act.  Instead we’re stuck with a well intended, but altogether forgettable and overproduced mess.

The album opens with the title track, serving as a three-minute summation of nearly every track on the record.  “Hello Fascination” opens with a predictable combination of rock guitars and pulsating electronic/techno blips, bleeps, and bloops, as well as the ever-present smack of pseudo-electronic handclaps.  Then the band launches headlong into a pair of electronically modified pop vocals, only to follow-up with an altogether laughable hardcore breakdown.  It’s as if the band is trying to be everything, and satisfy everyone, all at once – as if they’re saying “Hey, look at us, we might be melodic, but we’re also sooo hardcore and edgy.”  Nice try guys, but you’re not fooling anyone.  Practically every other track follows the same predictable formula – give or take some hardcore screams – so really, there’s no reason to go on.

Lyrically Breathe Carolina is lifeless.  Most tracks are harmless crush songs with forgettable and generic themes of sexual pursuit or promiscuous games.  When they do try being smart or witty, they end up with songs names like “Dressed Up To Undress,” which sound like rejected Bloodhound Gang track titles lacking an essential humour.

Breathe Carolina is ultimately a product of current trends with absolutely nothing to claim as their own.  By the end of the album (if you make it that far), their blatant overuse of soundboard embellishments (“The Dressing Room,” I’m looking at you) turns into outright abuse (you might as well just pull out an old Game Boy and play Super Mario Bros for a comparable experience).  Furthermore, at thirteen songs in over forty-nine minutes the level of repetition becomes aggravating and downright frustrating.  While Hello Fascination might not be the worst album of the year, that isn’t exactly grounds to celebrate or even be proud of.  Stay away from this exercise in calculated mediocrity.