I'm going to admit something that's likely to earn me the scorn of a lot of people: I'm not that fond of Recover. I reviewed their last record, and as a technical achievement, it had all the makings of an amazing record. Their mixture of post-punk, hardcore and pop really could have been something; and the music reviewer-type in me could appreciate it on that level. But unfortunately, their debut, and this record Ceci N'Est Pas Recover, never grabbed me.

I mean, that's the core of what I love about punk. A lot of bands that I love don't have all the chops, or even the originality. But they grab you. And Recover just fails to do that. I have a pretty simple test, that I think a lot of reviewers don't use; I listen to the record a couple of times, and then, if I like it, I'll have no trouble putting it on without trying to be "disciplined reviewer guy." In this case, I didn't feel the urge to put it on again. There was no particular song, or part of a song that stuck with me.

In this case, I listened to Ceci N'Est Pas Recover a couple of times, giving it an honest chance. It's a definite maturing from their last one; tighter, and more confident while not abandoning the influences that made their last record so popular. But all in all, there wasn't any passion. I don't know if the passion was missing from the band, or from me, but it just didn't work on that level.

It's like the band is too aware of how they've gotten all the details right that they've missed the point of making music to reach people. It's like an academic exercise; too self-aware.

I still maintain that Recover has the chops to make an incredible, moving record, but this just isn't it.