Quite the buzzkill

It’s easy to give local Bloomington artists the benefit of the doubt. The Buzzkills are as authentic Bloomington as it gets, having established themselves in the local venues on Kirkwood to headlining shows at the Bluebird.

Unfortunately, unlike other Bloomington natives that bring fresh and unique sounds to the area, The Buzzkills just rehash sounds of the alternative rock scene.

Which Way is Down, The Buzzkills’ latest effort, was written in the middle of 2007 during a period of line-up shuffling. Only two of the original members remain, and the album reflects the reinvented sound of the band. Sadly, their sound is about as generic as rock gets, with catchy elements but no personal or characterizing touch.

The album opens up with the song “Room Key” which sounds eerily reminiscent of Hoobastank’s early work. The song is at least catchy and a good representation of the rest of the album, displaying the kind of sentiments any college student can relate to with lyrics like “Well I don’t even know your name / What you’re like / But I’d like to spend the night with you tonight.” 

Although it’s neither musically nor lyrically impressive, the track does deserve kudos for starting the album off pretty well.

Other notable tracks include “Stick to Tonight” and “Southern Stars.” These tunes shy away from the post-modern rock genre and as a result, are good examples of all the elements of the band working well together.

Songs such as “Aww Honey” and “Shacker Song” embrace the alternative rock sound a little too much and feel unpolished because of it.

Which Way is Down is not the best of what the local Bloomington music scene has to offer. Nevertheless, The Buzzkills do a reasonable job with what they are trying to accomplish.

They don’t break any new ground or take any major risks here, but they’re at least successful for creating rock music that sounds decent.