For which generation is this record a soundtrack Student Rick? Because it ain’t mine… When any band names an album like this one, that band immediately sets themselves up to be hacked to pieces by the press when their resultant piece of work doesn’t cut the mustard. And I’m sorry Student Rick, but the only generation that will call this a soundtrack, are a bunch of OAP’s who listen to corporate AOR rock. Because ladies and gentlemen, Student Rick are no more than a watered down, piss-poor New Found Glory covers band.
Harsh? Maybe. But very, very fair. Y’see in my opinion this lot get off to a bad start with their name, which happens to be one of the worst I have ever come across. But, I guess if the music is ok, then I can forgive this little faux-pas. It’s just the music really doesn’t have any redeeming features. Student Rick are a Drive-Thru style band, so what hardcore label Victory are doing dabbling in very pop pop-punk is a mystery. But bands like New Found Glory must be cringeing to see piss-poor imitations like this coming through the ranks.
“Monday morning, hard to get out of bed, work sucks, this is the part that I dread,” they croon on opener ‘Monday Morning’. Oh dear…third rate if I ever I’ve seen them and this opens the record. Thing is, some people seem to claim that Student Rick are pretty good, drawing Midtown comparisons for their emotion filled hooks and harmonies. Well, unless there is another far superior band called Student Rick around, I’d call them liars, because after listening to this drivel for the last couple of hours, I cannot find any emotion anywhere.
Track two is the sickly sweet ‘Hideaway’, which if you found on N*Sync’s latest cd wouldn’t surprise me. ‘Falling For You’ is ok, just it sounds like every other pop-punk band in the world. And every other pop-punk band have done it far better than this foursome. ‘Please Forgive Me’ was obviously named with reviewers like me in mind… so it’s a pity it’s more mid-paced crap.
‘I Wish’ has a nice clean, punchy guitar riff, but the vocals scream of The Starting Line, who I think are far superior, even though they don’t set the world alight themselves. Even when proceedings get a bit faster, it’s all punk-lite, there’s no power or emotion. Disposable crap are two words that come to mind. Things get worse with ‘A Child’s Cry’ which is absolutely pathetic. It sounds like something that would infest the radio like the plague. Radio 2 that is. It’s a ballad so sugary sweet that it actually does make you sick to the stomach.
‘Meet You Halfway There’ is another f*****g ballad, with absolutely no emotion. How anyone can relate to this is a goddamn mystery. People, it’s garbage! ‘Yesterday’ thankfully picks up the pace, and isn’t too bad, but to be honest it would have to be the best song I’ve ever heard to change my opinion of this lot now. And it proves to be a one-trick pony anyway, with yet more ballad-style drivel in the form of ‘South Of Blackford’. Punk rock ballads – please someone tell them they just don’t work.
‘Through The Window’ has some nice harmonies. The rest is pure tosh. ‘In The Cold’ is, shock horror, actually ok. If all of the songs were like this, then Student Rick would be passable. Ok, it sounds like an Antifreeze b-side, but it’s hummable and that’s good enough for me. But then they go and spoil it with ‘Midway’, another ballad! Who on Earth do this lot think they are, cos they sure as hell ain’t punk! So, the best part, the end! But first we have yet another 4 and a half minutes of AOR style ‘rock’ in the form of ‘October Skies’. By now I’m banging my head against a brick wall, and I’m wondering what actually possessed me to get this cd.
Student Rick are absolute garbage. In a real, honest world bands like this don’t get record deals. I pray that MTV doesn’t latch onto this lot, because it would be an absolute travesty. If this is the future of punk, then shoot me now.
Paul Savage