Teen friendly pop punk at its best

Artist: Cartel
Album: Chroma
Label: The Militia Group
Tracks: 12
Length: 49:58
Review by: John Durkee

This is pop punk junk. There’s no creativity, it’s simply a derivative copy of a copy, with no identity of its own. It lacks the any genuine angst or aggressive feelings and has no punch in its riffs. The production is squeaky clean to the point of nausea, and overall the album is a waste of time…

That’s what I want to write. To tell off these pop punk upstarts for playing the same pop punk that’s been around for years, and lacking a fresh style or perspective to the sound.

But…

Here’s the thing, Chroma isn’t meant to be a groundbreaking album or to challenge what anyone thinks about music or their beliefs or anything like that. Simply put, it’s an enjoyable melodic pop punk album with so-so verses, cliché lyrics, and fun power chord filled choruses.

Songs like "The Minstrel's Prayer," with its shotgun sounding drum beat and acoustic guitar and the techno influenced and reframes of previous songs in, "A," deliver the only real unique songs on the album. “The Minstrel’s Prayer” describes what all male musicians are doing: trying to get the girl, and “A” is simply a great conclusion to an album, by capping it off with reframes of the better songs on the album. While these are a nice breath of fresh air on the album, it is not the overall character of the album. Songs like “Luckie Street” (taken from their fun EP, Ransom), and “Honestly,” are the pop punk standard for fun hooks and choruses.

This album isn’t for the indie elitist or even for grown ups per se, it’s for the junior high and high school kids full of faux angst and the young at heart, or at least those who are a sucker for pop punk and catchy melodies.