Alternative rock group Cartel attempts to fight their way back into the music scene with their third album, Cycles. The Georgia natives broke into the mainstream music scene in 2007 with the release of their second CD, the self-titled Cartel, recorded and popularized during their appearance on MTV’s Band in a Bubble. After a two-year hiatus following the release of their second and most popular album, the band members again try to strike a chord with fans. However, unlike their first two CDs, Cycles fails to resonate.
Cartel attempts to win back disillusioned fans who may have lost touch with the band in the two-year span between its popular second album and 2009’s Cycles. The boys try to reroute and revert back to the catchy and smooth pop-rock hits that appealed to listeners years ago. However, the album fails to ignite that same excitement that catapulted this group to musical fame. Most of the tracks offer nothing but the predictable hook heavy melodies and overblown choruses.
“Only You,” the typical pop ballad, is lacking in musicianship and creativity. Repetitive and reminiscent of all the clich? power ballads currently in existence, it does nothing to stand out from the competition.
“It Still Remains,” “27 Steps” and “Typical” are just plain mediocre. The listener is given the impression that these tracks were simply thrown in at the last minute to fill the album song quota. Although vocally strong and catchy at times, these songs seem simply to fold into the mix, burying themselves beneath the album’s stronger tracks.
This is not to say that the album is a complete flop. There are a few standout tracks that might remind Cartel fans why they fell in love with this band years ago. The opening song “Let’s Go” is exciting and catchy. With a rhythm-driven chorus that pushes you right through to the end, this is definitely the sort of track that will find you hopping off that desk chair and onto your bed singing “Get up everybody/ Stand up with me!”
Continuing on to the second track, “The Perfect Mistake” keeps up the momentum with a powerful guitar part and well-written lyrics. However, after these first two impressive opening tracks, the rest of the album is unable to live up to the expected delivery.
What could have been an extremely successful third album, for some reason or another, just can’t quite break the mold. Something is missing here. Although the album has generally strong vocals, talented instrumental performances and an all-around catchy sound, something simply does not gel. Cycles misses the mark on fluidity and variation. The band plays it a bit too safe within the pop-rock genre and may have been better off taking on a few more musical digressions.
Overall, faithful fans will be satisfied with Cartel’s third attempt, but it is definitely not worth jumping up and down for. Conversely, those disillusioned fans the band was trying so hard to bring back into focus will probably find themselves turning further away from this once chart-topping group and finding a new group of suave and boyishly handsome rockers to worship.
