Hawthorne Heights

There is some sort of terrible emo time warp that allows bands to believe that producing watered down, trite, predictable music is somehow still relevant. Hawthorne Heights may produce radio-ready, three-minute emo opuses, but these days anyone with a guitar and some teenage angst can produce songs like those on their newest If Only You Were Lonely. While I’m sure this record will go on to blow up in the charts, there isn’t one ounce of originality in the songwriting, guitar work or production. Like one of the album’s song titles suggests, "Where Can I Stab Myself in the Ears?”