Posted on: March 21, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

One look at the band photo and it’s easy to dismiss the Dallas-based five piece Artist Vs Poet as little more than hoodie-sporting, auto-tune dependent Millennials with influences that don’t go deeper than last year’s Hot Topic best-sellers. A rash, slightly unfair judgment call, but pretty damn accurate if their 5-song EP is any indication to what the future holds. Sure there’s nothing flat out offensive about the music, aside from a massive lack of originality.

The guys can play their instruments well enough, but the vocals sound like every other release being put out by Top 40 pop bands parading as power pop or pop punk or whatever the label du jour is this week. The lyrics safely gravitate to being in a band (“All In”) and teenage love (every other song on the CD). Let’s call it music for teens who want to please their parents. Fearless Records, the band’s label, used to be home to some amazing bands (Sugarcult, Gatsby’s American Dream, Bigwig, The Outline), but lately it seems like they’ve lost their way and are just grasping for a new identity. Let’s hope AVP is simply a quirky anomaly rather than the label’s new playbook.

Top Tracks: You’re kidding, right?

Rating: 4 out 10

Artist Vs Poet – Artist Vs Poet EP (CD) / Fearless / 2009 / 5 Tracks / http://profile.myspace.com/ArtistVsPoet

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