GRATITUDE
Gratitude
Atlantic/Velvet Hammer
· If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, is Gratitude the most sincere form of plagiarism?
In most cases a CD review has to do two things: it describes what a band’s music sounds like and assesses whether or not that sound is good. Gratitude sound like Jimmy Eat World. And when I say that, it’s not shorthand for the fact that they share the same influences or mine the same vein of glistening radio-ready punky pop. From the staccato guitars and gently warbled saccharine (some say wimpy) vocals to catchy woe-is-me delivery, they sound exactly like Jimmy Eat World and don’t seem to have a problem with that. So the question remains, do I have a problem with it?
A younger version of me would have torn this band apart for its blatant bandwagon hopping (let’s be fair, the younger version of me wouldn’t have been caught dead listening to this album in the first place), but as I get older I’ve learned to separate my music listening. Sometimes I want uncomfortable room-clearing white noise, so I put on old Sonic Youth or Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed. But sometimes (usually while I’m driving) I want big, stupid, catchy songs that I can sing along to. So whether it’s Jimmy Eat World or one of their imitators, the result is the same – the smile on my face and the pedal to the metal.
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