Death In The Park – Self Titled

Based on the cover art alone, I sincerely believed that Death In The Park was going to be some sort of grizzled hardcore hand.  I mean, what other genre so liberally employs such bloody theatrics?  Even after following the band in news coverage, my blinders must have filtered out all else, because I just never clued in that they might be something more, let alone the pop-punk side project of Hot Rod Circuit front man Andy Jackson.  I suppose my indifference to Hot Rod Circuit also put me at a disadvantage, but it still remained a rather embarrassing slip.

On the topic of the deceiving cover art and accompanying contrast, the group comes across with a far less fatal edge. Instead, Death In The Park stick with the mid-tempo alternative flavoured pop-punk informed by their lineage.  Forcing strong comparisons with bands that defined the past ten years circa The Starting Line and Taking Back Sunday and modern takes like Bayside, songs like opener “Pitifully Exposed” find the band melding catchy lyrics with toe tapping melodies.  “Shove a poison apple down my throat, from a distance you just watch me choke” sings Jackson making a solid first impression.  Instrumentally the band lays down a tight foundation, but slowly unravels later in the album as they fail define themselves track to track.  As with any significant after-the-fact project, stepping out of the shadow you helped create can prove a challenge.  To this end, even Death In The Park’s best moments feel more like an extension of Hot Rod Circuit circa 2002 than a brand new endeavor.

That being said, some pretty decent tunes date back a decade, and when the band gets this balance just right, their songs include needed to satisfy those who once lived and breathed by the Vagrant Recordsrelease calendar.  Highlights for this crowd include the emo tinged “Do You Want Me Now” (fans of Saves The Day will likely get lots out of this one), and Motion City Soundtrack-esque electronic “Walk Away” and “Move To The Beat.”  But while the layers of guitars overlap tightly, even long time fans might find the latter’s vaguely aimed lyrics testing.  For instance, the truthful sentiment of the instrumentally forgiving chorus “give it all you’ve got, I know it’s not that simple though, cause you don’t always get what you deserve” feel forced and overdone.

To understand Death In The Park’s biggest flaw, look no further than the telling title of “How Much Is Too Much.”  With Jackson having since moved on to his more stable project Terrible Things, reviewing Death In The Park feels more like a post-Hot Rod Circuit attempt at relevancy than a genuine project in itself.  It plays out like the undertaking of a skillful musician who just didn’t know how to react to his band’s dissolution – kind of like the train wreck that was Zwan after The Smashing Pumpkins first called it a day.

When Jackson should have been taking it easy and working towards Terrible Things, he defaulted with Death In The Park to fill the void.  Fans of Hot Rod Circuit will welcome the comforting familiarity, but most others will likely find that there isn’t much new going on.