The Audition - Champion
Have you ever wanted to find a CD that you can crank up in your car / bedroom / bathroom (be careful with water and electricity though!) and just sing your little lungs out as though you were actually in the band?
Well, the thought of doing just that shows how excited was I to see the latest CD from The Audition lying on my desk when I came back from my Christmas Holidays! Needless to say, my housemates must be thinking I’ve joined a local band, as I’m convinced my vocal efforts are second to none!
Okay, so I’m no Danny Stevens, but I’m just going to put that down to my not having the right downstairs parts; therefore he can bask in the glory of the bands follow up to their 2005 debut, Controversy Loves Company without me elbowing my (incredible) singing in!
From the outset of Basbhat, - which I must admit, I don’t really understand - you can tell that Danny has worked on his voice and it’s difficult not to compare the sound to a (better) Maroon 5 or Justin Timberlake. But a good opener nonetheless.
Anyway, then we’re off with Warm Me Up, the first single, and a song I can imagine teenage kids singing to their girlfriends / boyfriends for many moons to come… especially with the Cry Me A River sounding bridge from the aforementioned Timberlake. Nothing spectacular, but still something for the ears to feast upon.
Heaven For The Weather sounds a little Panic! At The Disco-ish in parts, but still gets a big thumbs up, as does Edinboro which makes me smile with the bouncy chorus which gets me twirling around like a bit of a nutter actually. Good job I shut the curtains really isn’t it?
Hell To Sell has a bass-led intro and it could be the start of the latest porn film, but once the rest of the guys kick off (in a Maroon 5 way yet again - watch your back Adam Levine) The last minute and half has to be the highlight of the song and we build up to an explosive finish.
In between the guitar-strewn Ether and the rather depressing lyrics that make up,Shady Business we have the ballad-esque What Get‘s You Through the Night, which is a song that, if released by someone like Take That, would get straight to number one in the charts.
It has all the potential to be an absolutely amazing hit, but because it’s from an American Pop-Punk band, they probably wouldn’t even get a look in. but that said, I think part of what makes this song so great is that it’s ours; for us fans to enjoy and those pretty, chart popsters just can’t have it.
Make It Rain sounds quite a lot like one of the offerings from Welsh rockers Attack! Attack!’s new album (which I am 100% in love with) so they can’t go wrong here. It’s the type of track that could make even the most boring teenager get their groove on. Winner!
Finally we have Have Gun, Will Travel, another good track which for some weird reason, makes me want to start a barn dance, you know, the type where you link arms with people as you skip around the room. Just me then? Oh well.
So what do I think? Well overall, Champion isn’t really the Champion of the pop-punk genre as it stands, it’s pretty level with the rest of the offerings out there. It’s sort of the case that if you love The Audition, you’ll love this album, but if you just like them in passing, it will probably just be another album that passes by your musical radar.
Rating: 4 /5 - A good effort.
Skip To: What Get‘s You Through the Night