Just My Luck

by

McFly

Edit

What do you get when you cross The Beatles with The Beach Boys, and pepper them with influences from various rock acts throughout the three-and-a-half decades since? You get British pop/rock band McFly. While it's true that comparisons to those two landmark sixties groups have been doled out liberally over the years, very few groups have come this close to sounding like their direct musical descendants. This quartet of Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones (both on lead vocals and guitars), Dougie Poynter (bass) and Harry Judd (drums) seem to possess an uncanny natural gift for the vocal harmony, the instrumental melody, and the skilled tunesmithery that won The (Original) Fab Four such a massive and ardent fan base.

The album kicks off with "I Wanna Hold You", a rollicking power-pop love song with a string section (and SCORCHING guitar solo!) thrown in for good measure. Next up is "I've Got You", which sandwiches a crunchy-guitar chorus between subdued verses, and perhaps owes itself more to bands like Blink-182 than The Beatles. Then the album shifts into a lower gear with a pair of buoyant mid-tempo ballads, "Obviously" and "Ultraviolet", which more readily show their impressive song-crafting skills. The good songs don't stop there; the enchanting slow ballad "All About You" and the infectiously clever sing-along "That Girl" (the latter of which brings to mind Huey Lewis and the News) are two of my favorites, followed by the melancholy "Unsaid Things" and the irresistibly optimistic "I'll Be OK". Trading off on lead vocal duties, Fletcher's airy, slightly nasal timbre (reminiscent of Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong) provides a perfect contrast to Jones' huskier, more rugged voice.

This disc is actually a blend of the group's first two UK albums, with about 35% of the songs coming from their debut "Room On The 3rd Floor" and 60% from their second album "Wonderland", with one brand new song (the title track) included. While the two UK albums each have their own feel -- "3rd Floor" symbolizing the group's carefree adolescence, while "Wonderland" represents a more focused step toward adulthood -- and are both worth buying on their own merits, here they blend together quite nicely, offering arguably the most appealing songs from each import release, with only one of the "3rd Floor" tracks ("Five Colours In Her Hair") receiving a thorough sonic makeover, replacing the Monkees-like playfulness of the original version with a more raucous thrash. Chances are you'll never be compelled at any point in this album to hit the "next track" button, and the disc will be over long before you want it to be.

Don't dismiss McFly as a "boyband" just because they're good-looking young guys who play generally light music (and have landed a cushy tie-in promotion through a popular teen movie). The writing and instrumentation -- and above all, the innate talent -- are all their own. Give these guys the chance they deserve; you just might re-discover why "pop" music is so much fun.

Unlike most of the other reviewers, I came to this album with no preconceived notions. I had neither heard McFly nor heard of them before acquiring this album (which happened when I was given a promo copy by a radio station). What I bring to this review is an open mind and about four decades of being an avid music fan. Yes, even rudimentary math skills will tell you that I'm more than old enough to be their father.

First off, could we tone down the hyperbole just a bit? The Beatles and The Beach Boys? Please, spare me. Here are the things that McFly shares with The Beatles: (1) There are four of them. (2) They're from England. (3) They play guitars. (4) They understand and practice the art of vocals harmonies. (5) They play well-crafted pop music. That's about it. As for The Beach Boys, they share approximately nothing stylistically with that band. Zippo. They sound like The Beach Boys the way every young guy with an acoustic guitar and a determined tone sounds like Bob Dylan.

McFly is a good band. They have a fair amount of musical skill, they possess better-than-average songwriting skills, and their flair for singing and harmony is quite good. They have enough variety in their songs that you won't be bored listening to the album, and just about any pop fan will find something to truly enjoy along the way.

As with just about any young band, they are pretty derivative. It's easy to catalogue their influences as you make your way through the album. And yes, The Beatles (and just about every other British pop band of the mid- to late- Sixties) are represented in those influences. So are a lot of other people, though. For just one example, if Carlene Carter's "Never Together But Close Sometimes" and just about any song that Greg Kihn ever recorded got together and had a child, it would be remarkably like the song "I've Got You." Give McFly enough time to mature, and you'll doubtless find them making some very original and enjoyable music. For now, though, stick with 'enjoyable.'

If it was possible, I'd give this album three and a half stars. This is bright, well-written and well-played music from a band with a lot of promise. It just doesn't knock me over, quite yet.