I am officially giving up on trying to keep track of all the pop-rock bands saturating the underground.

Now, Lucky Boys Confusion has been around a little bit longer than most, and subsequently what you would expect is a maturation and expansion of their previous sound. Instead, what's been found is a regression. Rather than continue to incorporate some of the reggae elements that were found in previous efforts, the band has decided to go the way of the token pop-rock band.

Granted, the sound is a cohesive one, putting them a foot or two above other like-minded bands, but the fact of the matter is that the songs on How to Get Out Alive just are not all that good.

What it boils down to is a very simple oversight -- the choruses are great, and the verses are not. This is problematic for a few obvious reasons. The first being, that in a given song, the verses take up a lot more time than the choruses do, and the second being, the band is incapable of writing a full song worth listening to. The songs themselves do flow from one to another in that cohesive manner I mentioned before, but each track leaves plenty to be desired. "Cigarettes" is the one exception to this rule, as a song that has some pretty solid verses to accompany the chorus. Why is that the only song of the five where this is true, though? Obviously it's in the bands capacity to write a song that's listenable.

In effect, what we have here is a band who's underachieving. They have the ability to write some catchy tunes, but seem to get too wrapped up in writing a memorable chorus, and not as wrapped up in the verses leading to it.

The saddest thing in life -- is wasted talent.