Something Corporate - Audioboxer (2001)

With a name like Something Corporate, this outfit set themselves up as sitting ducks for rock critics who like nothing better than leading a hapless young band to slaughter. This release wasn't as faceless as their name portended, but they did have some standard issue major-label pop/punk/alternative rock features to their approach. Singer/songwriter Andrew McMahon is the focal point on this six-song debut EP, which is often given over to the yearn-whine of fresh high-school graduates. That's especially true of "iF yoU C Jordan," which actually kicks off, "I have a story, a bitter anthem for everyone to hear, about this kid who just don't like me." Most of us have been picked on at some times in our lives, too, but do we really want to be reminded of it with such blatant posturing? Where they did differ from the pack is their emphasis on McMahon's piano, though there's plenty of modern rock guitar muscle on most of the cuts. The closer, "Walking By," largely discards the usual rock lineup for a piano-string arrangement. It made one wonder if McMahon's true forte would turn out to be as a more sensitive singer/songwriter rather than as the leader of a bratty, um, corporate rock band.