The Plain White Ts offer us all a look into the brighter side of modern rock. Filled with quick-hitting and up-tempo songs, the band is tailored for a "TRL" crowd. Its album, All That We Needed, is fun from the start and doesn't let up until the very end.
Diving into this album is like taking a nice, leisurely trip that lets you see the band's take on girls, relationships, breakups and feelings.
But so much for variety. This band appears to be striving to set new standards in male sensitivity, and it reaches its goal of impressing an MTV audience.
It's hard to knock a band for achieving its goals, but I'll give it a shot. I get the distinct impression that the Ts are trying to sound like a hip, new version of Jimmy Eat World, but with more estrogen. The only problem is that Jimmy Eat World is hot right now and these guys are a step behind.
With all that said, the Ts offer up an album with some solid pop rock songs, starting off with the opening title track, "All That We Needed." The song sounds as if it was written especially for "The O.C." This disc is sprinkled with up-tempo tracks and some small amounts of thrashing here and there. The CD ends with the obligatory acoustic love song, but it's not half bad.
In the end, I would have liked to see a little more edge to these songs. The band is capable of creating a harder sound. Some tracks start with a bang and end with a whimper. These guys could use a little more macho and a little less metrosexual.
Final verdict: If you're into happy, white-boy rock, check out this CD. It might be for you. Otherwise, just wait for one of your sensitive friends to pick it up and give it a listen then.
Zac Amarillas is a freelace writer for the Web Devil. Reach him at zachary.amarillas@asu.edu.
