FM Static – Dear Diary

Artist: FM Staticcover04-300x300
Album: Dear Diary
Genre: Pop Rock
Label: Tooth and Nail

Tracks:
1. A Boy Moves To a New Town With An Optimistic Outlook
2. The Unavoidable Battle of Feeling On The Outside
3. Boy Meets Girl
4. Sometimes You Can’t Forget Who You Are
5. Man Whatcha’ Doin
6. The Voyage of Beliefs
7. Her Father’s Song
8. Take Me As I Am
9. Dear God
10. The Shindig [Off To College]

Trevor McNevan is someone I have come to admire over the years. He stormed the Christian music market in two genres successfully  and managed to keep the band’s separate, yet strong throughout. There’s the bigger act, Thousand Foot Krutch, and then his pop rock side project, and the reason you’re reading this now, FM Static. FM’s third record, Dear Diary, drops today, but I fear the shine of McNevan and crew’s previous work is beginning to wear out.

I could not get enough of FM Static on their first two releases, so I anxiously pressed play on Dear Diary with a certain mindset towards what I was going to hear: Catchy and at times deep, yet simple pop rock. It’s not a hard formula, but one that has proven to work again and again. “A Boy Moves…” starts off things on a great note, but it feels like well worn territory by the time the chorus comes in [on the first song!]. I wasn’t too put off by this as I know this is a genre where retracing old avenues sometimes pays off, so I continued on to, “The Unavoidable Battle…” which has an intro so close to, “Head on Collision” by New Found Glory that I think there could be a lawsuit. The song itself is really solid, but I couldn’t help feeling NFG had done it before. However, “Boy Meets Girl,” the third track, finally finds FM  Static gathering some footing. The pop sensitivity is met with chugging guitar riffs and the combination is pop rock perfection. This is followed by the equally enjoyable, “Sometimes You Can’t Forget Who You Are,” but then goes back down with the lazy, “Man Whatcha’ Doin.” It’s just too simple for a third record. Especially coming from someone whose been in the industry for this long.

“Voyage of Beliefs,” has some great lyrical work, but falls a bit short when the hook hits. However, the back half isn’t all disappointing as, “Take Me As I Am,” comes through as one of the best tracks this act has ever written. The meshing of their typical pop rock sound with gentle piano work and harmony is simply golden. Kudos to the producer of the record as well as the effects and sound of this track are simply perfect. The follow up, “Dear God,” strays a bit from the great predecessor, but the subject matter and structure is hard to deny. However, the record does end on what I consider a sour note as, “The Shindig,” is a lackluster closer. It’s such a typical track for any band in this genre that it just seems to serve no purpose closing the album. Poor track order guys, poor indeed.

In the end, I can’t say i was anything short of letdown with this record. FM Static burst onto the scene with quick tongue twisting lines and pop culture references that were backed up with solid pop punk/rock, but somewhere have gone astray. At times I feel like they’ve lowered their skill level on this record and I hate to see that from any band, let alone one I’ve come to be quite fond of in recent years. However, everyone has a bad track, or 6, in their time, maybe they just needed to flush some stuff out of their system. There are gems on Dear Diary, but you’ll have to be quite the treasure hunter to find them.

*Written By: James Showell*
Score: 5.5/10

James Shotwell
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