The inside cover of Blue Room Hero's Manning the Spotlight features a picture of the band — four strapping young lads enjoying themselves over a few glasses of beer. They look like they're ready for a life of success. Whether that success is in music, however, remains to be seen.
Manning the Spotlight is a strong release for a local band, but it's not quite enough to cut it on a higher level. Blue Room Hero's sound seems slightly dated, as if the band time-warped to the present from the height of the '90s alternative-rock craze. Manning the Spotlight is a feel-good collection of pop/rock songs, but the band plays it too safe in sticking to the well-worn path of radio rock.
This peppy approach works on some songs and not on others. Opening track "Mama Put Us In Order" tackles the decidedly non-rocking topic of a mother's love for her children with a surprising degree of success. The song tells the tale of a five kids whose mother only loves one of them, adding a darker undercurrent to the band's cheerful, catchy sound.
"And we wondered what was wrong with us / Were we not worthy of mother's love?" asks lead singer Jason Napp, with just enough candor to make it meaningful without being too annoying. The pure pop/rock refrain — "Her love isn't fair" — is incredibly catchy, contrasting nicely with the reggae-infused bop of the verses.
Unfortunately, lead guitarist Jeff Kubat doodles around too much behind Napp's heartfelt vocals. His part adds virtually nothing to the song and serves merely to distract listeners' attention from the song's strengths.
This pattern continues throughout the album, with overwrought, predictable lead guitar parts killing the momentum of otherwise decent songs. On several tracks, the guitar tone is weak and sometimes even out of tune.
Cheap-sounding, out-of-tune guitars have been used effectively throughout rock history. In Blue Room Hero's case, the lead guitar just clashes with the well-groomed, professional sound of the acoustic guitar, bass and drums.
Napp's vocals could use some additional polish as well. He has the perfect voice for Blue Room Hero's sound and lyrical content — friendly, emotional and oozing with boyish charm. But he tries too hard to put a little edge on his voice at times, and ends up just sounding whiny. Give him a few years and he could develop into a lead singer in the vein of Bloc Party's Kele Okereke — but he's not there yet.
To Napp's credit, he only dissolves into meaningless-love-song mode on "Faker" and "Waiting All Night." But it's not always clear exactly what the message is on the other songs, leaving definite room for improvement.
When Blue Room Hero's on, they have a great ear for a tune. When they're off, however, the songs are just overdone and relatively mild for a rock band. The sentimental political lament "Bleeding Us" takes a stab at uncaring politicians, but offers nothing in the way of musical innovation. The country-rock bop of "Full Stride" comes across as just plain annoying.
Even the better songs can wander off into the inviting pop/rock landscape Blue Room Hero has created. Country-rocker "Sambo" starts off with an ambiguous riff but picks up with Napp's rhythmic vocal part. The chorus is nothing to write home about, but overall it's a decent song. The problem is that it lacks teeth until the last five seconds, when the organ and guitar dissolve into a bluesy riff before cutting out.
The ear candy of most tracks leaves the listener begging for something a little grittier, which is why moments like the ending of "Sambo" are so welcome. They occur far too infrequently, though, to make the album truly invigorating.
The band takes a break from their relentless pop/rock onslaught once in a while, such as the beginning of "Bleeding Us," which features a news-broadcast clip that almost sounds like the start of Guns N' Roses' "Civil War." Overall, however, the band sticks to what they know best — upbeat, contemplative verses alternating with tuneful refrains.
Playing upbeat music has its perks. You can sing devastatingly poppy "oohhs" behind each chorus and wrap up every song with a melodic bridge. But Blue Room Hero lacks a grittiness to make their pop songs stand out. Anyone who's into positive, catchy music would do well to give Blue Room Hero a listen. Anyone else — well, you know the story.
Grade: C
