American Hi-Fi loses artistically

The vocals on American Hi-Fi's The Art of Losing are so mechanized and tricked up that while they are credited to lead singer Stacy Jones, you could tell me that they were sung by Vulcans, squealing robots or an army of Kelly Osbourne clones and I would believe you.\nJones is a poor man's Dave Grohl following everything Grohl does, just not as well. They both were drummers in superior bands (Jones was in Letters to Cleo and Veruca Salt), they both started their own post-grunge outfits and they are both now vocalist-guitarist-songwriters for new bands. Jones probably didn't learn from afar as Grohl reportedly was the centerpiece of the love triangle between frontpeople Louise Post and Nina Gordon that led to Veruca Salt's breakup. Grohl has more of a personality, though, while Jones' vocal affect makes him sound like a bratty teenager.\nTo be fair, American Hi-Fi has a way with catchy riffs and wry humor. So why does the production and mixing work of Nick Launay have to overwhelm it?\nI could be more kind and recommend this to a high school audience, but even high school kids deserve better than soulless product.