Don't be misled when looking at the title of this album, as it's not a compilation at all, just a normal, run of the mill album named Actions from a band called My Awesome Compilation. And when I say run of the mill, I mean run of the mill.

Maybe I've just heard too many bands like this one lately, but I could have sworn I heard this album at least two or three times by different bands. The bouncy, energetic approach of the band is surely endearing, and makes it so that would-be extremely mundane songs have at least some sort of life to them. The band doesn't do anything too crazy with song structure; most of the songs follow a pretty straight-forward formula of verse and chorus, with the only differentiation being the sporadic but ultimately unnecessary use of keyboards. They're not detrimental to the songs in any way, but more often than not, the song would sound better without them, or sound more full if they used bass or guitar in its place.

Barring the keyboard, however, any other kind of diversity would be appreciated.

These twelve songs do have a lot musically going for them, the singer's sincere vocal style lends itself very well to this type of music, and while he's not that powerful sounding, possibly even weak at times, the songs just don't require a lot from him. Some simple two-part harmonies here and there, and the ability to keep a decent tune over the bouncy melodic guitars, that's all that's needed. "Set to Go" is a rousing track with some great choruses, pounding guitars and strong dynamics, but there's the underlying sounds of some really annoying keyboard parts, and it really throws the whole thing off kilter, nearly screwing up the band's momentum up to that point. My Awesome Compilation also has some real low-key, low-tempo tracks, and the followup to "Set to Go," "What You Do," is one such track. Problems arise here as well however, with the ending taking repetition just a tad too far.

Not an entirely forgettable effort for the four-piece, as there are some shining moments, but there are some problems as well that all the glossy production the band can muster aren't going to fix. As exhibited in "Actions," the band tries to get to be a bit more aggressive than they actually are. I can't totally knock it, as it honestly sounds better that way than the sugary sweet songs up to that point, but it doesn't fit in so well.

I hope these guys aren't complacent with just being "decent," and making an "okay" record, because there's some deeper digging to be done.