Cute Is What We Aim For — Rotation

I got a Simple Plan song stuck in my head after listening to this album. That's not even a joke. There's nothing cute about four 20-something Gap mannequins writing derivative pop rock to get laid by the girls in their dorm. (How else are we supposed to interpret lyrics like "navigate me through your body"?) But let me not be labelled a total hater. Producer John Feldmann deserves credit for a crystal-clear, well-mixed sound. The well-placed horn and synth touches may also be his doing. Really, this review won't matter much in the end. One of these tracks will eventually find its way into a scene on The Hills and Cute Is What We Aim For's MySpace page will just blow up. Beyond sex with kinesiology majors, the boys with the unfortunately long band name can look forward to real, if brief, popularity. This isn't just because their hooky emo pop sounds just like what's already successful, but because it sounds better than the hordes of wannabes who never make it on to the radar.