Buzzin Pop Music

That Was Something – Down, But Not Out - album review

That Was Something: Down, But Not Out

Six-piece pop band That Was Something will see their new EP, Down, But Not Out released today. That Was Something hail from Detroit, and have been making music together for over five years.

They make a familiar form of pop: lyrics about girls, emotional affectations in the vocals, Marroon 5 drums and McFly guitars.

That Was Something have had a lot of success this year, touring non-stop and selling over 6000 copies of their first record, and they signed to Authentik Artists (their authenticity is disputable, though) just recently. They are relentlessly hard-working, and this shows in the immaculate composition of their songs.

An insatiable desire to find the limelight is perhaps not all that flattering to That Was Something, but it does prove that they are a group who are genuinely proud of the music they make, and judging by their ever expanding online fan base, they have found a market that enjoys these tinged-with-Avril-Lavigne-bubblegum-rock pop songs.

The perky opener to Down, But Not Out ‘She Is The West Coast’ is the best song on the record, with That Was Something doing well to not display too many serious pretensions. The irony in the lyrics is good to hear, and the song fun to listen to. So are the following ‘For The Fame’ and‘It’s Up To Us’. Therefore ‘Back Down Lady’ is comparatively dull, and ‘Until The Wheels Fall Off’ rehashes the same sound that the previous tracks do for long enough until…the wheels fall off.

Like a less catchy Scouting For Girls, a less melodic Maroon 5 or a more MOR The Killers, That Was Something have a future in producing listenable singles for the airwaves, but for much more than this, their songs are too similar to each other and too bland to keep an audience enraptured for very long.

Check out That Was Something on their MySpace or visit Authentik Artists for a second opinion.