Arts & Entertainment

Hi-Fi needs sun to grow on listeners

By Ray Hafner
Senior Staff Writer

Itis weird when a band needs sunny weather to sound good.

But American Hi-Fiis high-energy pop-punk is only as good as the rays bouncing off the hood of your car. Itis driving-around music that works only with windows down, shades on and volume up.

Colin Lane/ Isalnd Records

Once night falls, or a cloud threatens rain, the music feels out of place. It becomes a clown at a funeral, or the Spice Girls at an economic forum.

Thatis hardly a slur, and the band is in good company with the likes of Good Charlotte and A New Found Glory, the current pop-punk champs (who will both be stopping in Houston May 16).

Hi-Fiis problem, though, is on its second major album, The Art of Losing. The band is straddling the radio-friendly world of alternative and the prepubescent inanity of the pop-punkers, without great results.

So the listeners who pick it up for the semi-thoughtful radio-esque songs like "Save Me" will be skipping over the punkish tracks. The pop-punkers will be skipping "Save Me" to get to the sugar-coated, shiny songs like "The Breakup Song."

"The Breakup Song" is one of the albumis best and is, yup, you guessed it, about breaking up. Itis hardly a topic worth another song, so lead singer Stacy Jones gets clever with lyrics like "Itis over; weire over/ Just like in ‘Crimson and Clover.i" You have to be a music fan to get that one, folks.

Hi-Fi scored a solid hit last year with "Flavor of the Weak," a melodious pop-punk tune about a guy wanting a girl who is with another guy (such original themes!), which turned the guys of Hi-Fi into veritable rock stars.

Unfortunately, thereis nothing as catchy or as obvious a hit on this album. Thatis normally the case on a sophomore disc, but Hi-Fi has a major decision to make about where to go with its music.

The two sides of the disc both have solid songs worth listening to, but they wonit attract the same fans. In these days of MP3s, a band has to put together a stellar album to move copies out of stores.

The title track, "The Art of Losing," is anthem rock at its best, complete with a "Hey ho, letis go" refrain. It even finishes by repeating "Weire the kids in America" over and over. Kind of like crimson and clover?

The band may cause further listener confusion with "This is the Sound," a lovely rock ballad with hints of Oasis.

So if itis a sunny day today, maybe you should pick this album up. If itis a little cloudy, maybe tomorrow. Hi-Fiis job now is to make some all-weather tunes.

American Hi-Fi

The Art of Losing

Island Records

The verdict: With the schizophrenic weather weive been having, itis tough to recommend this one.

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