The Veronicas Debut as Pleasant, but Boring
Jami Furo
Issue date: 3/3/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Take two identical rock voices, punk style, pop songwriting, and 15 years of performing experience, and what you get is the Veronicas.
Jess and Lisa Origliasso, 20-year-old identical twins from Brisbane Australia, released their debut album, The Secret Life of the Veronicas, and it aims to please. In fact, it may aim to please too many people at once.
The Veronicas combine elements of all major genres of popular music. The melodies and lyrics are simple, even clichéd, creating a sound reminiscent of basic, bubblegum pop. The girls' voices, which are both highly pleasant and the slightest bit edgy, contain overtones of soft rock. Their style consists of a hodgepodge of thrift store clothes and costume jewelry that makes them look like the poster children for the punk movement. The result is a weakened form of all of these genres mixed together to create something that is not spectacularly anything.
Nevertheless, the Veronicas deliver a satisfying sound that is enjoyable to listen to. It is not profound, and it is not brilliant. What it is, is great for rolling down the windows in your car and pumping up The Secret Life of the Veronicas really loud, as the wind blows through your hair, and you bop along with your car full of friends. It is fun, and it is pleasant. It is just not ingenious or sensational.
The new single from the girls' album, "4ever," is the first song on the album, and it does well to set the tone. It is a classically Veronicas amalgamation of musical genres that is both soft and edgy, pop and rock, that is pleasing to the ear, while not doing all that well to impress the listener.
Many of the rest of the songs on the album resemble this first track, including "Everything I'm Not," "When it All Falls Apart," and "Mouth Shut." The lyrics of most of these tracks are the anger and longing associated with the breakup of a shallow teen relationship, and the sound is nothing exceptional.
One exception, however, is the song "Speechless." While many of the rest of the tracks possess similar tempos, sounds, instrumentation, harmonies, lyrics, and tone, "Speechless" goes to the next level. The tempo is slower, the mood more tense. There are unexpected shifts in mood and volume. There is an undercurrent of an emotion that is difficult to label or quantify. It is a complex emotion, or rahter set of emotions, that goes beyond the feelings in a high school romance. It is anger, sorrow, confusion and the girls' voices, which are the only sensational aspect of the album as a whole, conveying a feeling that can only be expressed through music. "Speechless" absolutely stands out as the best, most original track on the album.
If you are looking for the next big thing in popular music, the chances are that the Veronicas are not it. If you are looking for something new and innovative, the Veronicas are absolutely not it. However, if you are looking for a fun, pleasant album that will not make you think too hard and will get you swaying to the music, this one will more than satisfy you. Not all music has to be the most brilliant thing ever. Sometimes, a mediocre band that makes us happy to listen to them is all we want.
Jess and Lisa Origliasso, 20-year-old identical twins from Brisbane Australia, released their debut album, The Secret Life of the Veronicas, and it aims to please. In fact, it may aim to please too many people at once.
The Veronicas combine elements of all major genres of popular music. The melodies and lyrics are simple, even clichéd, creating a sound reminiscent of basic, bubblegum pop. The girls' voices, which are both highly pleasant and the slightest bit edgy, contain overtones of soft rock. Their style consists of a hodgepodge of thrift store clothes and costume jewelry that makes them look like the poster children for the punk movement. The result is a weakened form of all of these genres mixed together to create something that is not spectacularly anything.
Nevertheless, the Veronicas deliver a satisfying sound that is enjoyable to listen to. It is not profound, and it is not brilliant. What it is, is great for rolling down the windows in your car and pumping up The Secret Life of the Veronicas really loud, as the wind blows through your hair, and you bop along with your car full of friends. It is fun, and it is pleasant. It is just not ingenious or sensational.
The new single from the girls' album, "4ever," is the first song on the album, and it does well to set the tone. It is a classically Veronicas amalgamation of musical genres that is both soft and edgy, pop and rock, that is pleasing to the ear, while not doing all that well to impress the listener.
Many of the rest of the songs on the album resemble this first track, including "Everything I'm Not," "When it All Falls Apart," and "Mouth Shut." The lyrics of most of these tracks are the anger and longing associated with the breakup of a shallow teen relationship, and the sound is nothing exceptional.
One exception, however, is the song "Speechless." While many of the rest of the tracks possess similar tempos, sounds, instrumentation, harmonies, lyrics, and tone, "Speechless" goes to the next level. The tempo is slower, the mood more tense. There are unexpected shifts in mood and volume. There is an undercurrent of an emotion that is difficult to label or quantify. It is a complex emotion, or rahter set of emotions, that goes beyond the feelings in a high school romance. It is anger, sorrow, confusion and the girls' voices, which are the only sensational aspect of the album as a whole, conveying a feeling that can only be expressed through music. "Speechless" absolutely stands out as the best, most original track on the album.
If you are looking for the next big thing in popular music, the chances are that the Veronicas are not it. If you are looking for something new and innovative, the Veronicas are absolutely not it. However, if you are looking for a fun, pleasant album that will not make you think too hard and will get you swaying to the music, this one will more than satisfy you. Not all music has to be the most brilliant thing ever. Sometimes, a mediocre band that makes us happy to listen to them is all we want.