Instantly forgettable and entirely uninspired, The Urgency’s self-titled debut full-length pulsates with monotony and feels anything but urgent.

While many will doubtlessly clamber to hang on the ass-end of this Vermont/Brooklyn outfit’s bandwagon, I’m more than cozy sitting this one out on the sidelines. The Urgency, led by vocalist Tyler Gurwicz, pulls off just about every sound-alike scam in the book and fails to provide any hint that these cats have any distinctiveness to speak of.

Of course, edible and expected power pop dressed up in chiselled good looks and abundant amounts of marketability often works wonders and The Urgency will probably do quite well with the yelping teenage set. Still, it’s a sad state of affairs when even Ashlee Simpson proves to be more exciting at this point.

Lyrically, Gurwicz has the nuance of a chubby prostitute on E. Take the opening number, “Fingertips,” for instance. Here the band momentarily apes The Police as the vocalist spurts lyrics like “Baby, won’t you spread your pretty little lips, get ready for my fingertips” and “I could get caught between your legs tonight.” Yeah.

Musically, the predictability is in high-gear. Songs start and stop right on cue and you could probably set your broken Timex by the appearance of weepy, emo ballads in the album’s configuration. The arrangements lack adventure, pluck, or anything of interest.

Gurwicz, a musical theatre student, invokes all of the spirits of high drama in his self-expression. Some might find him poetic, even theatrical, in his expression of “feelings” and robust couplets. For the most part, however, he lacks any distinguishing personality and sounds so similar to Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump that you wonder if they’re the same person.

“Rooftops” unfolds a structure so agonizingly lame that it hurts to listen to. The chorus “soars” right when it is supposed to, with Gurwicz singing “Here on the rooftop, the moment is right.” It’s perfect for The Hills, I’ll give it that.

“Revolution” is probably the best of the bunch, with Gurwicz going the vocal distance during the verses before the song plunges back down to normalcy. Again, the lyrics provide problems as “All these bold-faced stuntas won’t know what’s coming for them” just sounds out-and-out childish.

The Urgency is generating quite a bit of buzz, much like many power pop/rock groups do upon their first arrival. Unfortunately, the record does little to match the hype and provides tasteless, inexpressive, mind-numbing tunes on top of banal structures and cushy, odd, brainless lyrics.

C’mon, there’s plenty of room on the sidelines with me.

Article Author: Jordan Richardson

Jordan Richardson is a Canadian freelance writer and maple syrup enthusiast. His film reviews can be found at the Canadian Cinephile's Reviews and his music reviews are located at the Canadian Audiophile's Reviews and News. Mr. …

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