Pop-punkers 'Make a Sound'

Coming from New York, the hub of hardcore and emo-fueled punk, Autopilot Off installs the latest in the pop-punk genre which is taking over these days.\nPop-punk is an oxymoron when you consider that angry punk music emerged in 1960s Britain as a response to pop music, and the mosh pit was the offspring of the 1970s L.A. punk scene as a response to formal dancing. So how did we come to the conundrum? As punk rock became more accepted, it emerged into popular culture making leaps and bounds in the 1990s with Nirvana, The Offspring and Green Day. Nowadays we have sludge like Blink 182, higher quality offerings like Sum 41, and … Autopilot Off.\nMake a Sound, the first major label album from the hard rockers, mixes many of the sounds of punk well. The grimy, melodic and upbeat sounds expand beyond the three powerchords of punk by mixing things up with old-fashioned jazz or current thrash metal. "Blind Truth" strays from the common structure of verses, choruses and bridges with an especially good composition. Autopilot Off plays with emotion and intellect, diving deeper into substance than Blink 182: think jumping into the Atlantic Ocean with concrete shoes. The album concludes strongly with "The Cicada's Song," a somber song about suicide, giving the chilly feel of a crisp wind on a spring evening at twilight.\nOverall the album makes for enjoyable college rock, but you're unlikely to dig it in ten years.