Alien Crime Syndicate

Power pop is such a tedious thing these days. You have the respected bands like Weezer and Foo Fighters, the bands that won’t be around tomorrow (American Hi-Fi) and the bands that just shouldn’t be allowed to be around, like Alien Crime Syndicate. The problem with this style of music is that it is so empty and repetitive; no wonder the kids have all flocked to the emo scene. Nothing on XL From Coast To Coast hasn’t been done before, and done five to ten years ago. Leadoff track "Ozzy” is a sloppy copycat of Nerf Herder’s "Van Halen,” which is how many years old now? A lot of these bands like to cash in on their old metal influences (see American Hi-Fi’s T-shirts and "Flavor of the Week” video) and "Ozzy” is a perfect example of why ’80s metal is getting a bad rap again. The rest of the album follows the leader with plenty of crunching guitars, unnecessary sound effects and poorly written lyrics. Avoid at all costs.