The Beautiful Mistake is an exemplar of a new breed of bands. For starters, these kids posted their creations on MP3.com. Eventually, they gained enough clicks from browsers (the people kind) and attention from labels that they inked a deal with the hip new Militia Group before they even went on tour.
That being said, the album needs improvement, mainly because it comes off a bit bland. The artwork is really quite attractive and probably the latest in graphic design technology, with burning heads that look like matches; inside are the transparent sheaths that play tricks on the viewer.
Lyrically, the album's inspiration ranges from CCM giants to post-Sunny Day Real Estate emo outfits from the latter half of the 90s. Sonically, The Beautiful Mistake is a clichéd culmination of everything currently happening in the musical underground. Imagine a mix of Further Seems Forever (a combination of Carrabba and Gleason), Thrice, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Finch, Rescue and whatever other genre-mixing amalgam you can think of.
Background screaming vocals on a pop record can be absolutely annoying, and the vox on this album are no exception: the howls detract from the ambitious young ones' endeavors. Josh Hagquist's lead vocals are indistinguishable, not in delivering the actual words but in their punch and originality. Hagquist sounds like a great singer, just not a rock n' roll one.
Light a Match For I Deserve to Burn is an outlandishly emo title, and along with their clever band name, the Mistake has a package that screams "I'm fiery hot, buy me at Hot Topic" before you even hear the music. I am probably being way too hard on these guys, because at times, streaks of musical sunshine pop through the clouds. However, they're ruined by overly-contrived lyrics and/or hardcore vocals that feel completely out of order.
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis October 2002Reviewed by Matt ModrichThe Beautiful Mistake is a four-piece emo band out of southern California. Their first full-length on The Militia Group is entitled "Light A Match, For I Deserve to Burn." Typically, TBM gets compared to Thursday these days. The comparison seems mostly based on the fact that they alternate between singing and screaming. However, the constant screaming is a new wrinkle for TBM because it was used…Similar sounding releases
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