Waking Up
One Republic
The group behind the horrific ‘Apologize’ which clogged up our charts like hair in a plughole a couple of years ago release their second long-play effort. The sort of band your teenage sister might buy if for some reason the local record store has run out of Saturdays’ albums, this is repugnant entry-level R n’ B tinged pop that was surely expelled from the same hole as Maroon Five and Savage Garden. ‘All The Right Moves’ somehow manages to make them sound like a camp Fall Out Boy tribute band. ‘Everybody Loves Me’ (I assure you, they don’t) resembles a sedated Robbie Williams stumbling through some tortuous karaoke with a wonky auto-cue. ‘Good Life’ temporarily restores some faith, with its harmonising vocals and ambient backing, but ‘All This Time’ and ‘Fear’ revert back to being pure fake boy-band style emotion. If ever an album had the wrong title, this would be it. ‘Waking Up’? I was just about to drop off, actually. Now where’s Timbaland’s mobile number?
Reviewed by Pete Muscutt










