Hey Monday - Hold on Tight
Record Label: Decaydance
Release date: October 2008
Hey Monday face two unfortunate obstacles with their debut LP. First, they are a pop punk band with a female lead singer. This means comparisons to Paramore are natural. Now Paramore aren’t considered the most groundbreaking band out there so when the term “Paramore rip off” is heard, most people will write it off without hearing it. The second obstacle is that they are also on the same label as Paramore, which invites more of the same really. This means most conversations go like this
“I’m listening to this band, Hey Monday”
“Oh yeah I heard of those guys, lead singer is a chick right? I already listen to Paramore”
Or like this
“Hey, new Paramore song?”
“No it’s this band called Hey Monday. They’re on the same label though”
“Ah they’re cashing in on Paramore’s success! Is she as hot as Hayley though?”
And so on...
All a bit unfair really, we never criticize All Time Low or Hit the Lights as just cashing in on Blink 182's success. But chuck a female lead singer in the mix and apparently you are enjoying the great taste of Paramore-Lite. What’s even more unfair is that Hey Monday is a fairly decent band, and Hold on Tight offers up an agreeable mix of pop punk tunes.
Compared to Paramore (The P word stops here I swear), Hey Monday offer a significantly poppier take on the formula. The first 3 tracks are great sing-along songs, with their catchy hooks anchored by singer Cassadee Pope’s voice. None of them raise the bar musically, but they are fun and energetic, which helps a pop punk band's chances. The lead single “Homecoming” has a chance to be huge if it gets some decent airplay, as it does a lot right in terms of being a radio friendly hit. The riff is simple yet vibrant, and the chorus is entertaining enough.
It is after this though that the words “decent enough” start to crop up more. While Hey Monday don’t look to reinvent the wheel, the tracks tend to bleed together the more you listen to the record, and songs become indistinguishable. In fact, after 6 to 7 listens of the album, the only songs that really stick in my memory are “Set off” and “Homecoming”. The ballads seem stuck in there for the sake of it, a common mistake with up and coming pop punkers. If you’re going to do something different, make it different, otherwise we can just wait for an acoustic EP or something. They offer nothing apart from showing that they know how to slow down the record. That’s not to say that Hey Monday are bad, because they are not by any means. It's just that many of the tracks are only standard pop punk skewing towards the pop side. For a band on their first album, however, it does leave me intrigued to see if they will progress at all. They seem to have the potential to create good pop songs, so I suppose it is a game of wait and see from here.
Hold on Tight is a collection of decent, if forgettable songs. The elements are in place. The hooks, the vocals, the instrumentation, they just need a little work and they can shine. Still, when it comes down to it, I’d rather be coming home with Hey Monday than shaking it to Metro Station.
For how decent you say they are, a 1.5 in reviewer tilt is kind of dumbfounding.
And I agree with most of the review, but not about how the songs blend together. If you can't tell the difference between, let's say, Homecoming, How You Love Me Now, Josey, Hurricane Streets and Arizona, especially after 6 or 7 listens, something is wrong.
For how decent you say they are, a 1.5 in reviewer tilt is kind of dumbfounding.
And I agree with most of the review, but not about how the songs blend together. If you can't tell the difference between, let's say, Homecoming, How You Love Me Now, Josey, Hurricane Streets and Arizona, especially after 6 or 7 listens, something is wrong.
Oops that was meant to be a 5.5! Thanks for letting me know it's fixed now.
Oh and I can tell the songs apart, I just kind of forget about them as soon as I finish listening to them
say them live .. enjoyed it fully! wish to see them again .. sad that i didnt get a chance to take a picture with cassadee .. some of my friends did though .. urgh!
Please stop using the word "punk" to define what genre this band is in. There is nothing punk about this. They're about as punk as Katy Perry is (which is 0.00%).
Please stop using the word "punk" to define what genre this band is in. There is nothing punk about this. They're about as punk as Katy Perry is (which is 0.00%).
Hey Monday is a (shitty) POP BAND.
I don't think it's fair to say shitty but yes it is pop music, The punk cred isn't really there.
Please stop using the word "punk" to define what genre this band is in. There is nothing punk about this. They're about as punk as Katy Perry is (which is 0.00%).
Hey Monday is a (shitty) POP BAND.
Well, Katy Perry is reportedly going out with Benji Madden. If that's not a textbook example of true punk rock, I don't know what the fuck is.
It is a catchy album. Definitely not the kind of stuff I usually listen to, but it's a great album to listen to when you're exercising. The songs are fun and catchy. It's a decent album, nothing special, but definitely catchy :)
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