Like Hawthorne Heights? Love TRJA! Solid pop-rock songs written directly for the radio, this Florida foursome have sold a stack of records in the US with their catchy brand of college rock, complete with baby screams and breakdowns. It’s as generic and obvious as they come and a record which, despite the title, suggests the band are as fake as they come, yet is catchy and melodic enough to keep you interested.
‘False Pretense’ and ‘Face Down’ are perfect examples of very catchy tracks which will have you singing along, yet both are so completely obvious you will think you’ve heard it all before. Especially as the vocalist sounds a little like the chap from Rise Against. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this record – and I can see why it’s done so well in the US and why it will inevitably do well over here – but it’s just a little too borrowed and cliched for me. As good as a few of the tracks are, overall this just merges with many other bands of the same style – HH, Story of the Year etc. If you like those bands, you’ll like TRJA. Simple as that.