by Caitlin Baldridge
After Hours by Timeflies is the most uninspired piece of pop music I’ve heard in a long while. People who appreciate music should steer clear; the demographic is female teens who’ve got their hands on their parents’ liquor. I really do appreciate all genres of music and I possess the notion that descent pop is very hard to make. To produce a catchy and relatable enough groove that can get the typical person to sing along is a true talent, and you’d have to know a great deal of music theory to accomplish it usually. After Hours is terribly generic and it seems the duo from the East Coast put hardly any effort into coming up with melody or content. Lyrics are not only typical of pop, including imagery of women in the club and getting f*cked up, but it really seems like they’re serious about what they’re saying, which sets them apart from the likes of the Cataracs who have the same content but they’re clearly joking. Examples are, “girls around me lookin’ like a huddle, yeah / I need a hand, I could use a stunt double” from “Swoon”, and “we take whatever we want / pour it in a red cup / so wicked, we don’t give a f*ck” from “Yeah”.
Their first album The Scotch Tape which was released in 2011 under no label was actually demonstrative of talent. Producer Rob Resnick makes an effort to show he knows his way around Pro Tools and got something from his music degree, and Cal Shapiro on vocals is capable of singing interesting melodies and has flow. The album varies from exclusively pop as well with melodious and abstract tracks “Shades of Grey” and “Ex Games”. It reminds me of a clean version of Hollywood Undead; catchy, fun, and wildly entertaining. But I’m not reviewing their previous album. I don’t know where they went wrong; it couldn’t have been due to getting signed because they created their own label which is impressive – perhaps it was a lack of inspiration or time pressure.
I don’t mean to sound harsh, it’s just that when music like this ends up on the radio it’s exactly what makes people say that radio blows. They’ll surely get some recognition from the pop world, especially since they got T-Pain to sing on one of their tracks. When I heard “Somebody Gon Get It” with T-Pain I literally couldn’t tell if I’d heard it before because it’s so painfully generic and bland. There honestly is good pop music out there and After Hours is giving the genre a bad name.
Rating: 2.6/10
