Just Surrender – Phoenix

New York’s Just Surrender fits along side a healthy score of power pop, emo, and post-hardcore trends characterizing the past decade.  There’s a hint of Anberlin, a peppering of Motion City Soundtrack, and a wealth of influences from band’s like The Starting Line.  Their recent and third full-length offering, Phoenix, showcases a band comfortable with their source material and a tight command over their influences.  However, even a firm knowledge can’t help them from falling victim to the safety of their inspirations.  In other words, most tracks take the easy way out, never really offering anything above a middling status quo.

And the lyrics certainly don’t help either.  True, dual vocalists Jason Maffucci and Dan Simons compliment each other nicely, but neither of them ever communicates anything remotely original.  There are songs about good times, bad times, and that’s about it.  Alas, even in their instrumentally strong opener (it’s one of a few tracks with a little edge) the best they can offer is a vague chorus comparing life to a rollercoaster – an analogy we’ve all heard plenty of times before.  Then there’s the angsty teen anthem “Take Me Home,” which – even with its happy synthboard tones – succumbs to the whinny plea for “what could have been.”  And the rest follow suit.  Others like “Crazy” dwell on failure, while those like “Lose Control” break down during what should be a moment of self-confidence.

That Just Surrender has existed on such flakey concepts since 2003 would truly baffle if it wasn’t for Phoenix’s catchy melodies and abundant harmonies.  I can easily understand fans of the sound tuning out the words and embracing the surprisingly competent backdrop.  And with over 40,000 albums sold over their past two outings (an impressive figure for an independent band), I’m guessing that’s exactly the case.  Without paying attention to the lyrics, one could easily mistake much of Phoenix for something deeper.

So in the end, Phoenix is an album we’ve all heard many times before.  But while there isn’t much distancing Just Surrender from their peers, they seem comfortable with that reality.  There’s certainly a niche for these trends in their less definitive form, and die-hard fans should have no problem adding Phoenix to their list of competent emulations.  Still, I imagine even niche-goers would have a hard time arguing thatPhoenix has any sort of unique longevity.