Mechanical Boy, Play Along

Reinvention is a bitch. I’m guessing the guys in Richmond, TX’s Mechanical Boy have been finding that out the past year or three. When last we saw (er, heard) the band, on their self-titled EP from a handful of years back, they were full-on members of the heavy, post-emo nu-metal scene; the debut EP wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad, either, just somewhat on the generic side. I liked it okay, although fellow reviewer Shawn R. wasn’t quite so kind — them’s the breaks, unfortunately.

So, when bassist Chris Applegate emailed me a while ago and asked if we could check out the band again, claiming that the band had totally changed directions, I shrugged and said “sure,” figuring “totally changed directions” meant they were now listening to more Taking Back Sunday and less Deftones. Turns out, though, that he wasn’t kidding. They’ve done a hell of a lot more than just drop the “The” from their name — the heavy guitars and stomping rhythms have been replaced with heavily retro-sounding pop-rock that brings to mind, well, Duran Duran more than anything else.

No, I’m totally serious — it’s due in large part to vocalist Tim Anderson, whose voice draws heavily from both Simon Le Bon and The Cult’s Ian Astbury, but the guitars and drums have also abandoned the metal for quasi-funky, danceable melodies, like The Rapture minus the world-hating cynicism or The Bravery minus (thank God) the flat-footed attempts at cleverness. It’s slick and polished to pop-sheen perfection, alternately stomping rock and hip-shaking pop, with soaring/yelping vocals, so sharp and well-made that it seems unfathomable it isn’t already on the radio somewhere.

On Play Along‘s best track, “All Alone in the Bering Sea,” the music has this big, open feel that brings to mind (favorably, mind you) epic Brit-rockers The Music, as well as moody, raw guitars, and some nice atmospherics. It’s complex without being overbearing, occasional skirting the edges of post-emo but never losing its New Romantic roots (think Jets To Brazil). Anderson’s vocals are desperate, Michael Regino’s guitars roar and drive skyward, and drummer Matt Wheeler thunders like he got lost on the way to his metal band’s rehearsal space. Heck, I can even forgive the “this little light of mine bit” on this one. It’s just a great song, period.

Much further on, “Lydia” rides a similar line, merging retro-pop and elements of emo to good effect and using the Rapture-ish rhythms nicely, to boot. Album opener “Tabloids” nears the top of the pile, too, albeit with a more “rawk” tone to it, and “The Who’s Who of My Youth” does nicely, straight-up pop-rock with a surprisingly addictive chorus. Things don’t fare as well when the band aims for a funky, dancefloor-filling groove, with tracks like “Swing Low & Carry Me Home” and the Killers-ish “She Does” making me scratch my head and wonder what the heck the band’s trying to do.

Really, though, where I hit a wall is with the lyrics. A third to half of the album seems to be about getting with somebody, and the over-the-top confidence with which Anderson sings lines like “Do you think you got what it takes to love me?” makes me twitch like I’ve just been shown pictures of somebody’s grandma naked. It just comes off…weird, somehow.

See, the thing about the whole lothario thing that bands like Duran Duran did (and that Mechanical Boy appears to be trying to do) is that it only really works for if you can sell it right — being suave and British and fashion plates and shooting videos on yachts with unattainable women somehow make the songs about seduction and sex and swanky/sordid stuff like that seem totally plausible, even if it’s just the image. With a bunch of guys from suburban Texas, though…it’s a bit difficult to imagine them as hard-partying sex symbol rockstars, y’know?

So, while songs like “The Bachelor” or “Could Be a Magical Night” are (I’m guessing) not quite autobiographical, the whole “seducer” vibe just doesn’t work for me. (This is where I’ve occasionally had problems with The Killers, too; oddly, it works better for them now that they’re bona fide rockstars and not Las Vegas bellhops…) Besides, that whole thing’s been done to death by this point, honestly. When the lyrics on the album are a bit more down-to-earth — or at least less clichéd — Mechanical Boy prove that they can be really, truly good.

I think they’re finding themselves pulled in multiple directions, which is understandable — any band is a collection of separate people, obviously, each with their own tastes and goals. For now, though, I’d suggest shelving the loverman songs in favor of something real. ‘Til then, well, I’m reminded of “New Persuasion,” towards the end of Play Along, where Anderson sings “Well, I’ve finally found a niche, baby” — no, not quite. Almost there, though; it’s a good step in an interesting direction. More songs like “All Alone in the Bering Sea” or “Lydia,” and I’m sold.