专辑简介

by Andrew Leahey

Tickle Me Pink's Madeline offers up a familiar interpretation of 21st century emo: lovelorn lyrics, youthful bravado, flat-ironed fashion, and angsty melodies howled by a young, mopheaded frontman. This debut album, which rarely tackles any subject beyond the bandmates' girl troubles, consists of 11 tracks. "You can't play me like that," asserts the opening song. "It's a matter of fact you're nothing more than a typical whore." Teenagers might gravitate toward that sort of adolescent catharsis, but Tickle Me Pink's appeal doesn't quite extend to adult listeners. "Typical," "The Time Is Wrong," and "We Still Dance" are standard-formula emo songs, featuring few elements to distinguish TMP from the countless other bands who grew up on a steady diet of Jimmy Eat World, Chris Carrabba, and MySpace. There are no synthesizer riffs like Metro Station, no bombastic female vocalist like Paramore, no piano virtuoso like Something Corporate, no inventive arrangements like Panic at the Disco. This isn't to say that Tickle Me Pink need a gimmick to succeed; they just need something, anything, to set them apart from the pack, since emo has become a very congested genre in 2008. The title track comes close to finding that identity; after beginning with a breezy verse, it quickly becomes an ode to a fallen childhood friend, complete with minor-keyed progressions and passionate vocals. Elsewhere, however, Tickle Me Pink's dramatic performance doesn't have much substance to back it up.