The Salads

You’ve got to give the Salads some credit, they’re good at what they do. Suburban teenagers who don’t know better will enjoy the piles of pop punk, hardcore energy and party attitude on The Big Picture, the band’s fourth record. However, once these teens turn 20, it’s going to be hard to get any of them to admit that they ever like this Toronto-based band. For the most part, The Big Picture’s songs are catchy — they’ve definitely perfected the palm mute, the rapid fire guitar riff, and the scratch-the-pick-against-the-strings manoeuvre. Their lyrics will also appease the kids: "I’ve got no love for you if you don’t love yourself,” from "Got No Love” is straight out of the Good Charlotte songbook. It’s hard to judge this record for anything other than a fleeting pleasure for 16-year-olds. More knowledgeable music fans will find this music too repetitive, painfully safe and mind-numbingly straightforward. If you still need to listen to The Big Picture skip over "The First Time.” The band have decided to thank everyone from Universal music to their parents in a nauseating, incomprehensible number that almost ruins the entire record.