Pop music has gotten something of a bad name in today's indie-inundated scene (i.e. the scenesters won't listen to a band if they don't "invent" a style of music). Well, I like pop music, and I like it a lot. I like everything from The Beatles to the Barenaked Ladies, and I don't apologize for it.
Cadet is pop music. Their press release compares them to The Beach Boys, Weezer, and Teenage Fanclub. The Weezer influence is definitely the strongest, as the band plays catchy, quirky, punk-tinged pop with nerdy, nasal vocals. The Beach Boys influence comes mainly in the surf harmonies in some of the songs. Cadet certainly does not live up to the standards set by these visionaries, but they do occasionally have a good ear for melody. And while their lyrics are prone to youth group banalities ("Jesus is my superhero!"), the band pays their penance with the low-key Brian Wilson homage, "Precious One." The album is about five songs too long, though, and the band's systematic destruction of the Monkees classic, "I'm a Believer," is unforgivable.
Other coverage for this album
ReAL Magazine 2001Reviewed by Adam L.Who says good music has to be complicated? The boys from Cadet have set out to answer that question with their self-titled debut on BEC Recordings. Cadet doesn't always stick to easy-to-follow lyrics, but these guys definitely have fun making music together, with songs like 'GodMan,' which I would normally hate, but somehow, these guys pull it off without annoying the heck out of the average…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Bert GanglThe Cadet story traces its origins to Oregon State University where songwriter and guitarist Ryan Smith quit his post as worship leader for Campus Crusade and turned his attention to forming a band. Smith's group began playing concerts in their home state and eventually placed their demo in the hands of BEC founder Brandon Ebel's younger brother who was attending OSU. The band signed with BEC…Similar sounding releases
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