The Red Telephone – Review

The Red Telephone

(Warner Brothers)
by Katy Shea

I feel like I’ve heard this band before. The melodies on The Red Telephone‘s major label debut are guitar-driven tunes with slick production and masculine yet sensitive vocals. Reminiscent of the Goo Goo Dolls and a lot of the top 40 rock that is gracing the airwaves today. This Boston-based band is giving us more of the same, except that the package is shiny and new. The CD is flawless from a production standpoint, with none of the usual quirks of a first release. The vocals (and background vocals) are mixed to a seamless banality, as the soul of this band seems lost, erased, and smoothed over. The songwriting is sincere and there are moments where talent is almost evident, but it remains obscured, either by the band’s vision (or lack thereof), or by just plain embarrassing choices (like quoting T.S. Eliot verbatim amidst a guitar intro that sounds like a ’90s remake of “Foolin'”). These tunes would fit right in on the radio, which serves mostly as a testament to the state of modern radio.
(75 Rockefeller Plaza 32 Fl. New York, NY 10019)