Give me chiming guitars and quick paced drumming, and you at least have my attention. Now sing to me with vocals that attract rather than repel. Average Joe Aspiring? So far, so good. Kurt Denmark's vocals drop flat at the end of an occasional verse here and there, but overall leave a pleasant, inviting aroma in the room, long after the album's done spinning. His guitar melodies and drummer Jason Medina's snappy time-keeping play a large role in these songs being memorable. (Bassist Damain Byars holds his end up in the background, subtly giving Avg. Joe a solid backbone.)
Lyrically, Avg. Joe makes it clear where their loyalties lay. I think they've done a decent job of throwing out an evangelistic net while still speaking in a language of teenage angst. "Falling Up" is a prayer put to song, where they confess, "I know You hear this song ringing in your ear all day long / God, You're probably sick of this song / Yes, I tripped over my self again..." The song "Proclaim" sounds like a plea to get a non-listening friend to open up: "Why would you bother listening / you've already got it figured out / I'm not worth it."
While short songs beg for additional tracks, I probably would've left "Heartache" off the album, or worked on the guitar progressions, as they climb a musical scale, but don't deliver something new until it's too late and boredom has set in. If this had been released in 1995, this band would be on the crest of the 'pop punk' wave, instead of simply living up to its name in the glut of pop punkdom.
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