Three years ago they were “Face Down.” Now, after a hiatus, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is back with their second full-length album, Lonely Road. Although the album is no sophomore slump, it doesn’t quite measure up to their first.
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is probably best known for “Face Down,” which came from their 2006 debut Don’t You Fake It. The band formed in 2003 when vocalist Ronnie Winter and guitarist Duke Kitchens started jamming in a high school classroom and playing shows in their native Florida, quickly acquiring a local fan base.
Since their first full-length release, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus has been featured on MTV’s “The Hills” and in several video games. The band has also survived a string of lineup changes, including the departure of guitarist Elias Reidy this fall. Through it all, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus manages to maintain their image as the do-gooders of pop-punk, supporting various charities and social causes. Pretty impressive for a band who was never meant to get a record deal.
Their new release, Lonely Road, has all the makings of a typical pop-punk album, with definite emo tendencies. Swirling guitars, crashing drums and plenty of emotionally charged lyrics from clear-voiced, longhaired vocalist Winter make the album fun and easily likeable. The band also experiments with a heavier, distorted sound on tracks like “Pleads and Postcards” and the album’s first single, “You Better Pray.”
Highlights include pop-punk anthems “Step Right Up” and “Pen and Paper.” The soaring, dance-inspired “Pull Me Back” also comes out on top. However, a few soporific emo ballads disrupt the album’s pace but are easily ignored.
Unfortunately, Lonely Road lacks the grit, intensity and genuine emotion of the band’s first release. For example, “Face Down” specifically addressed domestic violence, but many of the tracks off Lonely Road are broad, sweeping attempts to inspire. Rather than coming across as activists, the band winds up sounding preachy and self-righteous. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus may or may not be a Christian rock band — they do not formally address religious influences in their music, but the title “You Better Pray” sort of gives them away.
Lonely Road also features a new producer, Grammy-nominated Howard Benson. As a result, the album is slickly produced and the songs are tightly made, but it doesn’t have the local band feel that may have made them attractive to many fans in the first place.
While there is definitely something appealing about a homegrown band playing to support social causes, the problem may just be this genre is no longer as trendy. The high schoolers who put emo and screamo on the map are growing up, and so is their taste in music. Now, the genre that dominated MTV just a few years ago needs more than just cute, catchy tunes to survive. Lonely Road is good, but it’s not quite good enough. If the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus wants to stick around, they need to step away from the super producer and get back to their roots.
2 1/2 stars out of 5.
