By Anshu Pandit
Whether it is playing in Oceana or the local shop, Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes, featuring Adam Levine from Maroon 5, is an incessant annoyance that follows me wherever I go.
Despite my antipathy for Levine’s whinging, high-pitched voice, this track is unfortunately one of the better ones off the group’s fifth album, The Papercut Chronicles II. It lacks the brilliance of Cupid’s Chokehold, the single that led them to mainstream popularity in 2005.
While the band has previously excelled with their rock/rap fusion songs, their new beats, reminiscent of Kanye West’s College Dropout album from 2004, fails to impress.
The Stephen Hawking-esque electronic voice in the introduction track is simply baffling.
The lyrics in most of the songs are juvenile and sound like a 12-year-old wrote them.
But played-out beats and dull lyrics are not the only issues with this album. It would seem the band ran out of songs to fill the record, because there are three (yes, three) versions of Stereo Hearts, each one worse than the version before.
However, the album is not a complete mess. Tracks such as Holy Horseshit, Batman! are promising, with lyrics I would actually sing along to.
All in all, if this album were to play on the radio, I would listen to it softly in the background while I was driving, but only if I hated everything else playing on the other channels.
I would never turn up the volume and actively listen to it.
Save your money on this one and join me in hoping that front man Travie McCoy’s solo career picks up again, so he releases another single that is on par with Billionaire.
The Papercut Chronicles II is released on February 28.
Rating: 2/5