Wow, how this band has changed since ‘The Way We Talk’ a few years ago. Then they were maybe a bit wet around the ears and sounded a bit similar to a lot of other bands around at the time, but there was a bit of energy and youthful exuberance. Their debut album was way, way too over-produced and slick and polished and overall was a letdown. This album, released on Warner Bros, sounds more like OneRepublic and The Script than Every Avenue. It will undoubtedly take them to the next levels and they’ll, without doubt, sell a shedload of records, but ‘Black and White’ is ultimately bland, boring and far too ‘safe’ to make any kind of musical impact.
I’ve read a review or two of this record and they all pretty much say the same thing. There are a few good songs here, taken in isolation anyway, but chuck the album together as one cohesive unit and it’s an absolute radio-friendly yawn-fest. ‘Every Road’, for instance, is just…well, if you’ve ever been to the US and listened to ‘college radio’, you hear songs like this every three minutes. It’s identikit radio-friendly pop with no identity, no spark…nothing. It could be any of a million bands. And that’s the theme throughout. The odd song will have your foot-tapping – ‘Don’t Stop Now’ and ‘Inside Of You’ are palatable – but the rest is too slow, passionless and, in a word, boring.