Album Reviews

Album Reviews: Hold on Tight by Hey Monday

Pete Wentz runs the show. That is, the emo/pop/punk show. He's the HNIC, the Don, the one behind the controls for the fastest growing scene of music in the past several years. Wentz, the bassist of Fall Out Boy and husband of pop princess Ashlee Simpson, as if we even needed to mention those facts, has the Midas touch. If he produces, finds, talks about or signs a band to his Decaydence imprint, it usually turns to Gold. Literally. Wentz's bands hang RIAA Gold and Platinum certified plaques on their walls, since Wentz devotees proudly gobble up anything he puts his proverbial stamp on.

Hey Monday are one of Wentz's bands, and Hold on Tight is a gushingly sweet, power pop album that's equal parts Paramore and Avril Lavinge, thanks to the sassy vocals of Cassadee Pope. Her attitude and her register are an exact match of Avril's and this somewhat paradoxical, tame badassery lends an extra edge to "Set Off" and "How You Love Me Now," both of which feature room-filling gang vocal parts. "Homecoming" has an intro that reminds us of The Bangles' cover of "Hazy Shade of Winter!" It's probably unintentional, since that cover was a radio smash when the principals in Hey Monday were too young to remember it! Hold on Tight sounds like a lot of money was spent perfecting and producing the songs, as they are polished to perfection. The songs are also so well-constructed that one can't help but wonder if Hey Monday received some expert assistance in tightening things up from an experienced producer or songwriter in the studio! That's not a diss, either. It's a smart, cohesive record from a bunch of kids from West Palm Beach who were relatively unknown for Wentz got his mitts on 'em. More power to Hey Monday and to Wentz. He knows what's the kids like and Hey Monday will reap the benefits of his reputation, his business sense and uncanny knack for predicting what will resonate on the street level.

— Amy Sciarretto
10.22.08