Artist: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Album: Don’t You Fake It
Label: Virgin Records
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: July 18, 2006

Overall: 8.2
Music: 7.5
Lyrics: 8.0
Production: 9.0

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is a young new band that has pretty much came out of nowhere. Without spending a lot of time working on their band name, which by the way means absolutely nothing, you can tell that they have concentrated hard on their music. They are definitely a band that is worthy of a major label contract, and so far they are proving to be very sucessful in mainstream music scene, thus selling over 90,000 copies in the first month of the cd release. The entire album is full of solid tracks come together just right to make the perfect debut album for the band. Although I consider this album to very good, it is not a very original as in the style of music. The songs resemble styles of bands such as Senses Fail, Underoath, Hawthorne Heights, Halifax, Finch, and even Fall Out Boy.

The cd opens up with the hard hitting song “In Fate’s Hands”,which is a strong track which is driven by the fast drums and heavy guitar. In the chorus the singer does a nasty scream similar to the Senses Fail screams on their cd. The next track “Waiting”, is a good song but just all around reminds me of Hawthorne Heights, which is a bad thing, but at the same time I would never come this band to Hawthorne Heights because they are actually good and have well written songs. The next song “False Pretenses” is one of the better songs on the album with a very catchy prechorus and chorus. The best song on the album is by far “Face Down”. The band could not have chosen a better single than this. The song is filled with meaningful lyrics, catchy melodies, and great lead guitar parts. The next track “Misery” is more of a slowed down rock song, it is a good song, but probably one of my least favorite. There are also some other slower songs like “Cat and Mouse” with stands out because of the piano, and then “Guardian Angel” starts out the first half of the song with soft voice and smooth acoustic guitar. Also the band tends to pull out some pop punk songs such as, “Damn Regret” and “Seventeen”. You can hear Fall Out Boy influences in “Damn Regret” where the intro of the song sounds similar to Fall Out Boy’s “Grand Theft Autumn”. The other songs on the album tend to have a more hardcore sound such as “Atrophy” and “Justify”, in these songs you will hear a lot more screaming and heavy guitars.

Overall these is an amazing album. I myself have grown to like it more than I thought I would. The quality of the album is phenomenal, and it is mainstream and will be enjoyed by almost any fan of this style of music. I think the lyrics are good and the guitars are also amazing. My only problem with the album is its lack of originality, although I seem to overlook that due to how well the band has pulled off this style of music. A lot of the bands I have listed above they do sound like them or resemble them slightly, but The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus pulls the sound of their music off even better. Anyone who is a fan of this style of music definitely needs to check out this band.

Tracklisting

1. In Fate’s Hands
2. Waiting
3. False Pretense
4. Face Down
5. Misery Loves Its Company
6. Cat and Mouse
7. Damn Regret
8. Atrophy
9. Seventeen Ain’t So Sweet
10. Justify
11. Your Guardian Angel

Standout Tracks

• “Face Down”
• “False Pretenses”
• “Atrophy”
• “Damn Regret”