Chroma (CD - 2005)

Originally released on the Milita Group label in 2005, Cartel's CHROMA was reissued by Epic Records the following year, resulting in much wider exposure for the Atlanta-based pop-punk group. On this full-length debut, the band offers up an immediately accessible set of guitar-laden emo anthems, most notably the lovelorn "Honestly" and the yearning "Runaway." With its guy-next-door charm and streamlined sound, Cartel is ideal for listeners looking for a less-quirky alternative to Fall Out Boy.

There's nothing new under the sun, especially not in pop music, and there's absolutely nothing new or innovative or even particularly forward-looking about Cartel's big guitars, big hooks, and big-voiced lead singer. That's not to say that this Atlanta-based band is retro at all -- on the contrary, it's just very much a creature of its time. Call this music pop-punk if you want, but really it's just pop, and more power to them. The album opens powerfully, with two pitch-perfect exercises in hooks-wise guitar rock, the bombastic but tight "Say Anything (Else)," and "Honestly." When things start getting a bit soft it's less a problem with the music than it is a problem with the lyrics: "Save Us" is nothing but a pile of clichés and meaningless phrases ("Now it's all gone but what it takes to make it real/We're standing on the edge of this"), and there's something vaguely creepy about the football-chant phraseology in "Burn This City." Perhaps worst of all is "Minstrel's Prayer," which actually contains the line "Oh carry on, you minstrels of the world." Yeesh. But most of the songs are much less embarrassing than those three, and the big, tight guitars and cathartic chord progressions go a long way toward redeeming even those. Recommended. ~ Rick Anderson minimize