Album Review: Dave Hause - Resolutions

Growing up, I had a real fancy for pop-rock. A Something Corporate gig in my early teens changed everything in that genre for me. Nowadays it's not so much, but there's still a place in my heart for the recent Jack Mannequin records. Dave Hause, lead singer of Punk band The Loved Ones has released 'Resolutions', one of various side projects. Now I'm not familiar with their stuff at all, but this is an album of singer-songwriter esq pop tunes.

From the outset it's clear these are deeply thought lyrics, but straight away it's all a bit too cheesy, throwing in overused phrases like 'only time will tell' backed by hammond organ, piano and soft acoustic guitar.

'C'mon Kid' has the singalong stadium chorus, with the lyrics telling a story, backing everything up. 'Pray for Tuscon' is another repeater, with hints of country and a strong story throughout. 'Resolutions' speeds things up a bit, but it's not enough to excite things. Many of the tracks on 'Resolutions' are slow emotional ballads, apart from numbers like 'Rankers and Rotters', which goes down a more punky path. It's quite a shift from most of the other numbers, but isn't anything that brings it into the realm of interesting for me.

Overall, It's not that I think this album isn't any good, I just think there are people out there who do this genre so much better. Songwriting like this are supposed to evoke emotions, stir feelings, or make you relate to the artist, and for me, it just didn't have those qualities.

2/5

'Resolutions' by Dave Hause is available now on Paper + Plastick.

Dave Hause on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook.

Mark Allen