Hit The Lights – Invicta

After what has been termed a four-year “dark period” for Ohio pop punks Hit The Lights, involving a healthy dose of label drama, the band has released their first album in over four years, Invicta, on their new home Razor & Tie.  A lot can happen in four years for a band, and Hit The Lights have matured accordingly.  While formerly classified with poppy underpinning found with bands Valencia, and A Loss For Words, the quintet now play more to the present day alt-rock styling of Relient K or The Lonely Forest than that of the jubilant Man Overboard crowd.

Maturity is a tough gig to work through though – particularly for bands that build their careers around being discernibly one-dimensional (Blink 182 serving as a showcase case study). Aided by producers Machine (Four Year Strong, Armor For Sleep, Cobra Starship) and Mike Sapone (Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Crime in Stereo), Hit The Lights have enlisted the right pedigree for the transition.  That being said, the band may be playing it a little too safe in execution – their sound exhibiting all the proper elements without the personality that initially placed them on the map.

Right from the start, Invicta falls victim to the modest pull of formulaic predictability.  “Invincible” opens with the carefully calculated escalation of anthemic backing vocals, weighty drums, and lingering, overdone guitars (think a diluted Angels & Airwaves).  “We’re starved to make a mark in this world” sings frontman Nick Thompson, vaguely aspiring for something more than the ordinary.  From here on out, tracks like “Gravity” come into play, in which autotune, electronics and post-production effects steal the show.  Thompson’s otherwise competent vocals take the biggest hit, with the mirrored choral frequency masking them behind layers of gloss, and dampening the already run of the mill lyrics.  Don’t get me wrong, the album certainly has a distinct atmosphere, and tracks like “So Guilty” and “Float Through Me” are audibly pleasing, but they come at the expense of breaking from the mould with the exception of a few choice cuts like “Get To You” or “Should’ve Known.”

Hit The Lights have matured with a sound that works for them, but they need to infuse more creativity before they can achieve a true career rebound.  Invicta will likely leave listeners indifferent but not offended.  A few tracks may find their way onto suitable playlists, but as a whole there isn’t much inspiring repeated listens.