Chain Poets

Album Review

The Chain Poets are hard rocking, angst-filled young men that make the sort of post-grunge noise that a hundred other groups have attempted since the mid-'90s. And like most of those groups, they have a sound that's somewhere between the manic throb of classic Seattle grunge and the punk-pop coming out of southern California around the same time. They definitely do a good job of it, including some great instrumental passages that are truly catchy and inspiring. But there are just so many groups with this sound that it gets hard to keep them straight at times. This eponymous album is actually pretty good, though; the genre might be stale but high-concept orchestral experiments like "Spleen" do a lot for the overall sound. And the album really is catchy, delivering some really well-crafted songs courtesy of singer/songwriter Greg Kaegen. As long as it's understood that this band does nothing that can't be heard elsewhere, then potential buyers should have no problem dishing out money with the reminder that at least the Chain Poets do it right.