Forever Came Calling releases their latest offering, Contender. A 20+ minute release that offers up the usual messages of teen angst, heartbreak, love songs and what have you. I know, I’ve listened to it several times now trying to find some good to say about the album. Unfortunately I can’t break away from the thought that this album sounds like just about every other album from kids looking to make their mark on the world through music.

The lyrics on the album, for starters, are just rehashing the same old, same old message. It’s like, sometimes I don’t even think that bands these days care about voicing their feelings and emotions but instead sacrifice their fifteen minutes at a shot that maybe, just maybe, the formulaic warbling of teen angst that dominate their scene will guide them to commercial success. I’m not saying that FCC doesn’t have just a tiny bit of substance, if Bukowski Could See Me Now is just too damn powerfully played a song to be bullshit, but a majority of what I heard doesn’t inspire.

Musically the band sounds as if their on the verge of defining their own sound. Unfortunately it sounds like everything else and even some of it doesn’t even sound that good. The guitar work here is such a wreck at times and the vocals sound as if their pushing up against their limit. Long story short the album is just more of the same. Great for the scene kids but lacking in its effort to expand into any other category.