America’s Playmate // Sunday Night Scene

The opening track “Hip-Hip Hooray!” on America’s Playmate had me singing along at the second “woah oh.” Jimme Coccaro really knows how to write vocal melodies that perfectly complement his music and show off his singing abilities. I love how occasionally during the chorus the vocals and the keyboard melodies match up. On “All That Shimmers” the introduction doesn’t quite fit with the first verse and it threw me off. The chorus is pretty groovy but it is also a bit repetitive.

After slow track two I was excited with anticipation at the beginning of “Hollywood Dreams.” At first, I was a little disappointed, but the chorus is really catchy and redeeming. I love the way the lyric “shake shake your head in shame” is sung. I think the introduction of the song has a very hard time transitioning to the verse and makes it very awkward as it slows down and changes main instruments. I instantly loved “Unluckily Lucky.” The opening guitar oddly sounds like a 90s alt-rock song when this song is certainly not. I love the “doo doo doo”s in the chorus, but I feel like the verse lyrics are rushed. This track (not to mention the whole CD) has lyrics that are awesomely easy to relate to.

I love the harmonies on “View of Dakota.” I am loving the mix of slow and fast paces on this album. So far each song is in the right place. The guitar on this track is very reminiscent of Cute Is What We Aim For’s “Lyrical Lies,” only much faster. The vocals are definitely going to find a spot in the heart of New Found Glory fans, as Jimme embodies everything good about Jordan Pundik’s voice. I love the intertwining vocals on this song, making this the best track to sing along to. The line “now we’re alone” being repeated toward the end of the song reminds me so much of New Found Glory it’s almost disconcerting.

“Chance of a Lifetime” had to potential to be really great but the vocals are sort of droning and annoying. I don’t care for the keyboards on it, they distract from what I could have been enjoying about the song. For once, my crappy computer speakers make a song sound better because I can’t hear the bass through them. The vocal melody of the chorus  is very fun to sing. Again, these lyrics are all so easy to relate to. This song won me over with the “na na nas” thrown in when coupled with the weird “no” conclusion at the end of the “na”s that I’ve never heard before.

The deeper voiced harmonies add a lot to the title track  “America’s Playmate.” It’s a fun song and the keyboard keeps it interesting. Unfortunately the lyrics of this song take a small dive compared to the rest of the album, which should never happen on a title track.

“Midnight Pre Rum” starts out awfully with really unnecessary noise and is generally nothing special, especially when compared to the first half of the album which was superb. It’s not a bad track and I have a feeling it will grow on me, but the very beginning noise has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the song and really ruins the flow of the album.

“Voices” returns to the fun, fast paces album that we’ve at this point come to know and love. The track grabs you with the fun vibe right away.  The vocal melody is really great with the keyboards, making a nice balancing act. There’s a really cool keyboard solo in the middle that took me by surprise. The only thing I don’t like about this song is the vocal filters! (ATTENTION BANDS! When you have a great voice, stop ruining it, you don’t need these filters!)

“Postcards” is the perfect pace to draw the album to a close. I love the simplicity of the guitar blending with the piano. This is a deep, emotionally touching song that manages to stay fun somehow. I couldn’t have chosen a better ending to this album.

Initial thoughts: I generally don’t like electronic pop-rock but I’m not hating this so far. I like the focus on acoustic guitar rather than electronic instruments. I really am not liking the vocal filters, I feel like they’re so unneccessary and are taking away from rather than adding to these songs. If anyone knows what the crazy, disemboweled bear on the cover has to do with the album, please e-mail me and let me know.

Now: This is an album that has a perfect mix of songs to dance to and songs to hang out with friends to. I think everyone can find something to like about this album. For such a young musician this is an excellent body of work. My only peeve about this album is that there are a lot of words and exact phrases that I have heard in other songs that are obvious influences to this album.

Best song: Hip-Hip Hooray! It’s obviously the single on the album for a reason. It’s fun, well written and easy to relate to. What more can you ask of a song?

DROPS OCTOBER 13th