By Alex Cooper

Contributing writer

“Any Wonder” by Violet Nine will hit the shelves of record stores two days after my birthday, but I’m not spending any of my birthday money from my grandma on it.

The debut album from the Boston-based band, scheduled for an April 4 release, is catchy at best. The sound is comparable to Maroon 5 only because the lead singer is fairly able, with an impressive range. However, he is backed by uninteresting and clichéd guitar lines and spouts poppy, meaningless lyrics.

The first track, “Out Loud,” opens with a energetic but predictable pulsating guitar line, complimented by the singer’s impressive vocal tone but the lyrics fall flat: “You’re looking around but/I’m right here/for you.”

The second track is a single titled “Yell It Out.” This track is as similar to the first as its title suggests. It continues the theme of guitars, playing repetitious, one-note melodies to do nothing but back the singer. This band knows its strength; however, its one-dimensional nature is already getting tiring.

The award for best track goes to track four, titled “I’ve Seen You Before.” This track is slightly darker with more interesting vocal lines, but its most redeeming quality is a guitar solo that displays some talent other than the singers.

The worst track is the ballad “Leaving Rain,” occupying slot seven. This track is a completely dull, self-glorifying tale about an ambiguous gift that the vocalist has but cannot share. He gives us no other information about this gift but does tell us that it’s located in his body, his flesh and his skin.

At this point in the album, Violet Nine’s lack of writing diversity or multi-dimensions to its sound is painfully obvious – the vocalist’s style becomes annoying with nothing else to listen to.

The final track “Hope” is a ballad that has some better points but ultimately can do nothing to save the album. There is a section with mixed falsetto and lower vocals that sounds like inspiration was drawn from Coldplay; however, the vocalist from Violet Nine is no Chris Martin, and this rather uninspiring finale is all that the listener is left with.

Violet Nine is an energetic band whose first album has no appeal to anyone older than 12.

Alex Cooper can be reached at [email protected].