Full Review: Forever The Sickest Kids - Underdog Alma Mater

Quick witted pop punk has been around, but it has to continue evolving to keep people interested. ‘Underdog Alma Mater’ is absolutely chalked full of hooks and cliché formulas but it is also slightly unique enough to give it a chance.

Right from the start when “Whoa Oh!” begins you can see how its easy to get sucked into the catchy and clever lines like “I’ve got friends in highly low places…”. The chorus is equally as sticky using the title (Whoa Oh) to carry the chorus.

“My Worst Nightmare” employs a super sugary chorus as well as an electronic drum beat that gives the song about heartbreak a cheery tone making you want to dance. A similar technique is used on “Believe Me I’m Lying” although it uses an even less sophisticated “do do do” hook.

The songs on the album could be stereotyped as very generic with these choruses that have been etched out and whittled down until there is nothing left but absolute sugar. “The Way She Moves” is a great example of the bland verses that are hard to remember even as the song is still playing but the chorus which goes “The way she moves, away-oh, I wanted her to stay awhile…” is just so infectious. One of the few songs though that has very little going for it would be “Phone Call” which really disappoints with a boring, and repetitive chorus.

The downfall, which plagues these teenage anthem albums of only singing about a breakup has definitely been included on most songs but “Coffee Break” does take a much needed break to focus on a different kind of heartache. The song is a striped down realization of what comes with growing up as well as an apology of sorts. “Catastrophe” falls short because as the the song you’ve probably already reached your fill of drama and this is the leader in drama laden lyrics.

There are a lot of reasons not to like the band or rather there are a lot reasons not to give the band a chance but the album is a lot of guilty pleasure fun. The melodies that fill a lot of the song’s choruses are what top 40 singles are made of and while the record won’t make any best of 2008 lists it is worth checking out.

Track Listing
1. “Whoa Oh! (Me vs. Everyone)”
2. “Hey Brittany”
3. “My Worst Nightmare”
4. “Believe Me, I’m Lying”
5. “The Way She Moves”
6. “She’s a Lady”
7. “Uh Huh”
8. “Phone Call”
9. “Breakdown”
10. “That for Me”
11. “Coffee Break”
12. “Catastrophe”