Sunday, September 28, 2008
A+E, Music, Reviews

THE MODERN SOCIETY

“THE BEAT GOES ON” (ORIGINAL SIGNAL)

Under the heading of “sounds like” on the Modern Society MySpace page are two words: “the future.” That’s not only pretentious, it’s incorrect.
   
At this late stage in pop music, it’s difficult to concoct anything totally new. And to its credit, Atlanta's Modern Society doesn’t try. The pop-punk four-piece looks backward rather than forward and is very much the sum of the group’s obvious influences—that would be the Replacements, mixed with Green Day and (insert your favorite emo band here).
  
It’s not a bad mix, though. On its sophomore release, the group stuffs an impressive set of hooks into 10 tunes, plays them with conviction and adds enough production touches to resonate with singalong choruses that stick around after the first spin. Frontman Woody Brown brings a Kurt Cobain-esque lost innocence to these upbeat, catchy ditties, and even if this isn’t going to be mistaken for Nirvana, the other players support him with melodic lines that never seem forced or overly derivative.

   
There’s no sense of the ragged implosion that pushed the Replacements’ good songs into great ones. Producer Stacy Jones (American Hi-Fi), who most famously worked with Plain White T’s, conjures a professional, if somewhat slick, sound that works against the band’s rawer impulses. Nevertheless, there are plenty enough impressive moments to prove the Modern Society boasts some substantial songwriting talent, which may take another few albums to fully reveal itself. The band is young and promising enough to wait around and see what develops. 2.5 STARS—Hal Horowitz