Forget the pop-punk of
Wakefield's 2003 debut.
Which Side Are You On? is a 90-degree turn into big-budget alterna-pop, the sort of calculated sound you might find on an
American Hi-Fi or
Butch Walker record. And unsurprisingly,
Walker co-wrote and produced the late-album entry "After School Special." There's no doubt about
Which Side's accessibility -- it changes gears hundreds of times, the better to please every last casual fan. Unfortunately, the band is completely lost inside its merciless cribbing of new wave ("Only One"),
Killers opportunism ("Take Off"), keyboard and string section add-ons,
Weezer (the "Say It Ain't So" rewrite "Without You"), and adult alternative balladry ("Clean 1145," "Shrine"). It's difficult to believe that two years of touring transformed
Wakefield into pop heads with a love for vocal harmonies and an encyclopedic knowledge of the last 30 years of the Billboard Top Ten. One can believe that of their collaborators, though. Besides
Walker,
Wakefield's production and writing partners include
Scott Cutler and
Anne Preven, who wrote
Natalie Imbruglia's slick superhit "Torn" when they were still known as
Ednaswap. And "Torn" isn't a bad model for
Which Side. Like that song, the album is smart and relentlessly catchy, but entirely plastic and rootless.
Imbruglia had a nice enough voice, but she was just a vessel, and that's how
Which Side Are You On?'s oodles of snazzy bells and whistles make you feel about the boys in
Wakefield. [The album was also issued in a clean version.] ~ Johnny Loftus