The Track Record

The Track Record (2005)

Brian Shultz

Weak.

Rushmore Records was created by Drive-Thru as sort of a dam to uphold any flood of signings D-T's owners might ever be tempted to cause. Rushmore in effect allows further bands to be given a home and keep D-T's roster at a moderate size. While some might subsequently regard Rushmore's acts as "leftovers" in that sense, I can't say there's a whole lot to argue the very notion; the Track Record is an even more underdeveloped version of any band playing terribly generic, laughably whiny, forced angsty "emo" pop.

The Track Record is one of the first albums I've seriously struggled to get all the way through, and it's only a five-song EP. Music should not result in migraines, but this is just what the band's label debut accomplishes. Comparisons could probably be made to any equally regurgitory emo pop act formed within the past two or three years, but I honestly can't think of anyone that's dumbed down to this "caliber."

These songs offer nothing new, musically or otherwise, with lazy guitar work, a poor sense of creative musical composition, and structure that begs for the use of a stop button. The band shoots lyrically for this aggressive, dark attitude at times á la Saves The Day ([1] "go ahead slit your wrists" [2] "It's so crazy how suicide occupies the minds of so, so many happy people") but Michael Strackbein's vocals are such a fierce combination of whine and nasal that you really can't take him seriously, not to mention that said lines come off entirely too forced and overall poorly written.

Sure, they're an outfit who obviously must be very young, but so are plenty of other acts, and they aren't making crap so biodegradable you'd think they were employed under the NRC.