Fiction
Plane - Everything Will Never Be Ok
by Dan Grote
Before we get down to the nitty-gritty:
Yes, it is a bit disconcerting how much Fiction Plane frontman Joe Sumner
sounds like his dad (His dad is Sting by the way).
However, put the genes aside and Fiction
Plane’s debut, Everything Will Never Be OK, is a surprisingly well-crafted
piece of AmeriBritpop.
Everything, instrumentally and lyrically,
is full of highs and lows, from the hyperactive guitar bounce of “Listen
to My Babe” to the quiet pondering of “Do I feel love?” on “Sickness.”
There are quite a few songs with hit potential, including the title track,
the emotive “Silence,” and the band’s dedication to cynicism, “Hate,” featuring
the chorus, “We’re cool, we’re different, and we hate things… we hate people.”
Sumner makes a few smart-ass threats on the character-sketch track, including
“Take a stand and we will cut you down, be yourself and we’ll call you
a liar.”
This same kind of quasi-mean-spirited lyricism
is also present on “Cigarette,” wherein Sumner tells a female smoker, “Taste
yourself you smell like death, to love you I must drink my meth.” There’s
a bit of obvious autobiography in “Cigarette” also, as Sumner tells the
girl “Touch me cause my daddy’s rich.”
The mellower, less-charged songs on Everything
don’t always work quite as well, such as the singer/songwriter-y “Fallow,”
which contradicts the argument of the title track with “There will be better
days,” and the contemplative “Real Real.” The latter track “Sickness,”
however, makes up for the weaker spots as it wavers between quiet introspection
and emotional tumult.
VERDICT: There’s a certain skepticism that
comes with the progeny of rock royalty venturing out into a studio of their
own. However, there’s a lot of talent going around in Fiction Plane, and
the band’s mastery of songwriting proves that Sting’s son can hold his
own.
CD Info
Fiction
Plane - Everything Will Never Be Ok
Label: MCA
Records
Rating:  
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