“We’re pretty much reinventing ourselves as a band,” said Dallas Smith, the lead singer of Default, about the band’s new album, “One Thing Remains.” The problem with this statement is that it’s categorically false.
Not only does the band fail to reinvent itself, but it also fails to make any sort of impact at all. Default, based in Vancouver, came together back in 1999 and began to gain notoriety when Chad Kroeger of Nickelback offered to produce the band’s independent recording sessions. After winning a local talent contest, Default earned a spot on a sampler CD, and its song “Deny” quickly became a smash hit, earning the band its first record deal. Since that time, Default has achieved many hits, and its last record achieved platinum status.
In the band’s attempt to change its sound, Kroeger offered his help, and Default changed producers. It’s striking, then, that the sound of “One Thing Remains” bears semblance to Nickelback and, to some degree, Creed, relying heavily on guitars and not much else. The result is something devastatingly mainstream, lacking not just in soul but also in style. The album can thus be summed up in one word: boring.
The album begins with “All is Forgiven,” one of the highlight tracks, yet this is not saying much. It features simple guitar changes with a drum beat. An occasional backing vocal, as well as Smith’s genuine attempt at ascribing meaning where there is none, makes this track sweetly forgettable. Throughout the CD, each track sounds similar, unfolding like a paint-by-number kit for how to sound like a typical rock band. The band embraces the post-grunge style without the spirit of the original movement.
Both lyrically and musically, this album is ironically stuck in the default setting. Simple rhymes like “the/me” or “more/before” simply offer no excitement whatsoever. It’s as if he asked a third grader what rhymes with “the” and wrote down the first answer. The ideas presented within the lyrics are just as vapid as the rhymes suggest. Combining simple love cliches like, “The love you gave/I’ll never throw it away” with more simple love cliches like, “It only hurts when your hearts are open/Dreams are lost and hearts are broken,” the lyrics never threatened to stimulate my mind or my emotions.
Vocally, Smith is developing his talent. However, he’s never really allowed a time to shine to his fullest given the bland music surrounding the vocals. Jeremy Hora, on guitar, claims his inspiration from the Jimmys – Hendrix and Page – but, honestly, the guitar work featured was of the most standard fare, boring and repetitive. He borders evoking passion during some of his riffs, but loudness does not equate with passion. Perhaps he should listen again to the Jimmys, and provide us with something fresh next time.
Default proves that simply stating one’s own reinvention does not necessarily make it so. It also proves the old cliche that popularity does not necessarily prove the album’s intrinsic artistic merit. Don’t buy this CD.
