Roses Are Red Conversations

According to a big sticker on the case of Roses Are Red's Trustkill records debut, "Rock is Back." Back from where, you ask Back from getting a full frontal lobotomy, apparently. Roses Are Red are yet another in a string of a thousand bands that happen to blend melodic pop punk rock a la Millencolin with occassional screams, emo choruses and rare bits of metal style drumming. If you've heard any of the last ten bands Victory Records signed, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Complete with puppy-dog eyes, tight t-shirts and their quota of shitty haircuts and tattoos, Roses Are Red are here to tell you all about a generic girl that made them sad, packaged neatly in black, white and red with poorly framed pictures of a random model. When it comes to catchy hooks and emotional cliches however, these guys seem to have done their homework. They're definitely not the best band out there at this sort of thing, but they're good enough to attract a legion of adoring pre-teen girls and their mildly ashamed fifteen year old brothers who love Unearth and Hatebreed despite having no real fucking clue about metal or hardcore. Soemtimes these records genuinely do just click with me, becoming my own personal guilty pleasures, but apparently today wasn't the right day for Roses Are Red and despite all their undeniable ability at writing sugary pop-emocore, they have failed to impress this critic. Note to bands: Inclusion of a piano does not immediately signal sincerity. Get a clue. Additionally, here are some lyrical excerpts: "Say something. Breathe it in. You've taken Everything. Since you've been away dancing in the moonlight, you won't hear I'm sorry tonight" "So honestly. The way your body tells the story of the summer nights you spent away from me." "So take the long way back home tonight. Don't say a thing. Stereo seventeen, red and green." According to the band's press release, the Alternative Press described Roses Are Red's lyrics as "intelligent." One of these two is definitely lying and I hope for the AP's sake, it's the PR people, because there isn't a good lyric in this whole record. Bottom Line: Here's the problem I'm having. It's easy to trash this stuff because it's so damn overdone, but does that fact, in itself, make the bands who do it well less good While there's a nice guy deep inside who really is a sucker for slick production and a poppy hook, the music fan in me is a fucking asshole who really can't wait for nu-metal or techno or whatever else to be trendy again so that bands like this can go co-opt a different musical genre. If you like or tolerate this stuff, this record isn't half bad. If this doesn't do anything for you, just try to ignore it and eventually it will go away. I promise.