Cruiserweight
Big Bold Letters (Doghouse)Local heroes Cruiserweight struggle with the challenge that’s faced posicore and emo bands for two decades now: how to indulge in sentimentality without coming off corny. Here, Cruiserweight’s strategy is to swing for the fences on the chorus, and they homer twice, with the crushing hooks of “Distraction” and “You Were Right.” Other songs – notably “Burst the Bubble,” “Balboa,” and “You Don’t Get It!” – have strong moments, but they’re offset by guitarist Urny Maxwell’s affable but conservative riffs and singer Stella Maxwell’s rambling melodies. The album’s production adds an extra, unnecessary layer of polish to the already-slick sound of 2005’s Sweet Weaponry, crowding Stella’s preternaturally smooth voice with a bank of generic backups as if to intentionally restrict her delivery and prevent her from selling the emotion. The Maxwells have the character to make earnestness stick, but it rarely comes through here.
This article appears in November 28 • 2008.