THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS – Don’t You Fake It (Virgin)
Original release date: July 18th, 2006
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’ debut album is screamo at its least threatening and most radio friendly. But although it may be highly diluted, it is also highly contagious.
Lead track In Fate’s Hands finds the five-piece blazing their way out of the speakers with a chorus blending screams and clean vocals as singer Ronnie Winter delivers a statement of intent of sorts about the band’s ambitions and their good fortune so far. The following Waiting is another highly polished slice of rock that would sit well in a stadium environment, while the impassioned Face Down is an anti-domestic violence track with strong melodic punk overtones, alongside rippling guitar in the hook-filled chorus that makes it a standout on the album.
At times it feels like they’re trying too hard to cover all the bases: on first listen it’s easy to believe you’re listening to several different bands as the songs veer from the soppy piano-embellished ballad of Cat And Mouse to Damn Regret, an easily accessible mid-paced anthem with high crossover appeal, to the more powerful Atrophy, to Misery Loves Its Company, which slows the tempo and alternates between delicate melodies and throaty yowls.
Your Guardian Angel is another emotional ballad, featuring strings and acoustic guitar for much of its length. Interestingly, the secret track, often the territory of soft songs, features in this case some of the most intense moments on the CD.
The song False Pretense is memorable primarily for the endearingly unironic way Winter exclaims “guitar!” before a brief instrumental break, which emphasises the fact that these guys are really just like any rock band, only dressed up in the latest fashion. If they’d been around in the ’80s, they would have been playing hair metal, and the songs would have sounded much the same, with only superficial tweaks to fit the times. But while The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus really have nothing unique to offer – apart from their bizarre name – the album is nonetheless likable, even if it is something of a guilty pleasure.
Owen Heitmann