Plunge - Hometown Hero

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 25 / 2 / 2005

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Review

Oh God. Where do I start? Plunge are a trio. They are young, handsome (in a very typical way) and dress in skate punk clobber that is extremely fashionable to ‘alternative’ high school kids, and extremely unfashionable to, well, just about anybody else. With the help of some well paid record producers, who I would guess really believe they understand how to break into ‘the industry’, they have recorded an album called ‘Hometown Hero’. It is shit. Basically, Plunge think they are a pop punk band. So they aim for the simplicity of Blink 182. But they also want to go for a more serious market, so they beef up the guitars to sound a bit FM rock. The lyrics defy description. Less sixth form, more like primary school poetry. Pete Waterman would probably ask them to lose a few of the clichés. It really is horrible. Each song plods along, the guitar chugs away and the drummer plonks about, but never do they seem to be listening to what they’re doing. Throughout the album there is not one hook, not one zippy guitar line nor a bare hint of a melody. Listening to 'Hometown Hero' is a miserable experience. I tried not to think about all the talented bands I’ve seen, bands that dream of a recording budget half the size of Plunge’s, but I couldn’t help it. The fact that this CD has been released means somebody thinks it will be popular. If they want to get in touch, I’ll gladly bet them my entire bank balance, including overdraft, that it won’t be.

Track Listing:-

1 Running Away
2 Wasted On Your Love
3 Hometown Hero
4 Part-time Girlfriend
5 Scared
6 Fall Into One
7 Ordinary Girl
8 One More Time
9 Stuck In Madison
10 Understand
11 Hope
12 Heaven