If there’s anything impressive about The 88, a Los Angeles-based pop-rock band, it’s the fact that their third album: “Not Only…But Also”: was financed on the licensing of their music to film and TV. From “The OC” to the new (read: awful) “90210,” the band’s already made their name just being the background music for ‘tween soap operas. So, yes –– kudos to The 88 for being proactive with their connections.
The music itself, though? Well…
Sporting production from Babyface and Matt Wallace, “Not Only” hits the door running with opener “Go Go Go.” Lead singerand guitarist Keith Slettedahl sings, “Well, I was stranded on the ocean/I was drowning there at best/So I came unto your desert” before belting out a string of go-go-go’s.
The same pleasantly-cheesy riffs continue on “Love You Anytime” and “Coming Home,” going back-and-forth with the ever-dependable motif of love peppered in The 88’s lyrics. The songs are infectious enough, devoid of the holier-than-thou pretentions of, say, The Killers. “Not Only” is a very safe and clean album so far, and the sub-60s beats and guitar twangs that populate each track don’t annoy too much.
However, after a few more tracks, buyer’s remorse sets in: The 88 don’t really seem to push themselves here. Comfortable, yes, but “Not Only” doesn’t try to expand itself either. What do you do when you run out of bouncy carefree tunes? Do a ballad of course! Except the ballads on this album, like “No One Here,” are out of date. The band doesn’t seem quite interested in fleshing them out either, and so the album almost implodes on itself by becoming generic. Thankfully, tunes “Sons and Daughters” and “Like You Do” (a song which sounds like a better version of Maroon 5’s “If I Never See Your Face Again”) prevent the album from its descent into sappiness.
Still, it’s hard to come away from “Not Only…But Also” with much of an impression, because it really is background music. You can put the CD in and bide your time twiddling your thumbs, and you’ll never notice the difference between the eleven tracks that make up the album since they all blend in together. The energy that starts the album off gradually peters out. Hopefully for their next album, The 88 will focus on branching out in their songwriting rather than going crazy with placements on “Gossip Girl.”
