Default - Comes and Goes Review

Default Comes and Goes

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Tracklist:
1. Turn it On
2. All Over Me
3. Little Too Late
4. Goodbye
5. Show Me
6. Hold Onto You
7. Comes and Goes
8. Supposed to Be
9. Caught in the Moment
10. Fascination
11. Yesterday's Song

Release Date: 09/29/2009

user rating

1.5
very poor

related

One Thing Remains

Elocation

The Fallout

1.5
very poor

Ryan Incognito USER (25 Reviews)

2009-11-02 | 21 comments | 503 views

Summary: Let's face it--- when you're a mainstream rock band and your name is Default, you're pretty much f***ed.

4 of 4 thought this review was well written

Hey guys! Who's up for a game of guess that band?

Pick me!

Okay Jimmy. Ready for your first clue?

You betcha!

All right. Clue #1: This is a mainstream rock band.

It's Nickelback!

No Jimmy, but oh so close. Clue #2: The members are from Canada.

It's Nickelback!

You're getting hotter. Clue #3: They sound like Nickelback and basically every other mainstream rock band out there.

It's Nickelback!

One can easily forgive Jimmy for being a little confused when it comes to Default. The resemblances, both musically and geographically, are striking when you compare them to their contemporaries (idols?) in Nickelback. Thus, it should come as no real surprise that Chad Kroeger was the man to spur Default's career by discovering them, getting them signed, and lending a producing hand in their first two albums. It also shouldn't be much of a surprise that nothing on Default's third effort Comes and Goes even attempts to shed cliche.

In case you had trouble telling the bands apart, there's one glaring difference between them--- popularity. While Nickelback has already hit it amazingly huge in both their homeland and the U.S., Default has yet to receive too much popularity from either, with the exception of 2002's semi-hit "Wasting My Time." Perhaps the band members realized this after the release of their debut album The Fallout, and decided to make their sound as similar to their original benefactor's as possible in order to gain the fame that had ever so slightly eluded them. They succeeded admirably in the first task, but alas, the year 2009 is now upon us and Default remains far from a household name. However, the numerous c*ck-rock influences leaking in from all corners on Comes and Goes quickly dash any hope that the lack of spotlight might have preserved some of the band's originality.

"Turn it On" kicks the album off with a muscular, country-twanged guitar riff that leads to vocalist Dallas Smith's declaration of "I've got another one in my bed and you don't know her." We get it man, but do you have to rub it in? The lyrical content on the album is nothing short of ridiculous, manning the breathtaking range of women to being a general bada**. Still, at least the opener has some firepower to it, as lead single "All Over Me" starts a string of around seven unremarkable mid-tempo cuts that channel influences from Theory of a Deadman (the cliched balladry of "Little Too Late") to Creed (the piano and electric guitar-driven "Hold Onto You"). While the hard-charging "Goodbye" works up a fair amount of energy, and Smith's vocals have much more power to them than Kroeger or Austin Winkler can claim to possess, there isn't one moment throughout the entirety of Comes and Goes where it feels as if Default are doing something fresh, or walking on ground that hasn't already been covered by countless other bands.

Default basically tell you everything you need to know through their name--- this is your default, run-of-the-mill mainstream rock band. While they float slightly above the depths of Hinder, as Smith does have an impressive set of pipes and the band can dish out a passable riff or two, there isn't anything on Comes and Goes that should appeal to anyone outside of the devoted rock radio fanbase, or even satisfy a mainstream rock sweet tooth.

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