The Almost - Monster Monster (Deluxe Edition) (2009)

Tracklist

01. Monster Monster
02. Lonely Wheel
03. No I Don't
04. Hands
05. Young Again
06. Summer Summer
07. Hand Grenade
08. Books & Books
09. Souls On Ten
10. Want To
11. Get Through
12. Monster
14. July
15. Wrong
16. Out West
17. Me And Alone

The Almost is Underoath drummer and sometime singer Aaron Gillespie's side project, and on this second full-length, it's a surprisingly mainstream rock radio-friendly outfit capable of cranking out hooky three-minute songs with the energy of the Foo Fighters at their most uptempo. Gillespie's a decent singer; he's a bit too nasal to appeal to grownups, but emo teens of both genders will almost certainly find him a compelling channel for their angst. He did everything on the band's debut, but formed a band for live performance in the aftermath; those players appear on this disc, with Gillespie doing double-duty behind the kit and the microphone. There's a reasonable amount of musical variety on Monster Monster, with keyboards adding a melancholy depth to some of the songs and acoustic guitars helping them get extra-meaningful on others. There's even a classic rock feel occasionally; "Summer Summer" sounds more like Tom Petty than Thrice or Thursday, but it's "Want To," the crunching power pop anthem "Get Through," and the title track that could most easily fit a rock radio playlist.

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