Sunday, December 06, 2009

Nocturnal Me - Nocturnal Me (Digital EP)


Cute Is What We Aim For minus singer Shaant Hacikyan equal Nocturnal Me. I guess that's what you get for being a dick. It must have hurt his too-big-for-its-own-good ego. I never could bear that band, mostly (but not only) because of him. So whereas 16-year old girls are crying of sadness because "WITHOUT SHAANT THIS IS NOT CIWWAF!!!!1111", I am a bit more open with Nocturnal Me. Not enthusiastic, but a bit more open.

So the band consists of former Cute Is What We Aim For's singer/bassist David Melillo (ex-solo artist) and guitarist Jeff Czum plus Michael Lasaponara, who filled in as the latter band's drummer during the past two years (because the former one left as he couldn't stand Hacikyan anymore). But the fact that they got rid of their annoying frontman doesn't mean they're gonna make good music together. The EP is unsurprisingly a kind of mix between their former band and Dave Melillo's solo stuff, as he is now the only vocalist. The guys would probably deny it, but still, it's pretty similar. Whereas a song like 'Once bitten' (an average alt-rock track about love and death with metaphors about vampires) has more punch than some compositions on Cute Is What We Aim For's last record 'Rotation', on 'Cougarz' they sound just like any pop-punk band on Fueled By Ramen. 'This isn't love' is a bit different, quite groovy, with a few good arrangements, but a cookie-cutter chorus and terrible keyboard notes ruin the song. The ballad 'Woulda coulda' isn't much more interesting, quite empty despite showcasing Melillo's range and falls short in the end.

Nocturnal Me have a lot of work to accomplish if they want to reach the fame they once had with their former band, even musically speaking. This first range of songs lack consistence and orginality, moreover the production is weak and the tracks sound more like demos than definitive material. They'll probably re-work them for a full-length. As a conclusion, I would have never written about this band if I didn't know the guys were former members of Cute Is What We Aim For.

2.5/5

Recommanded if you like:
Cute Is What We Aim For, The Academy Is..., Dave Melillo
Check also:
The Midnight Club, Play For Keeps, Every You

www.myspace.com/iamnocturnalme
(iTunes, 2009)

2 comments:

  1. La cover me rappelle fortement celle de l'album Awake de Secondhand Serenade. Même si il n'y avait pas de hiboux ^^

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  2. Ah oui? Moi celle dernièrement, celle de From Heaven We Fall m'a fait penser à celle dont tu parlais:
    http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61PWfWyT-nL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

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