The White Tie Affair

The debut album from Chicago's White Tie Affair, Walk This Way showcases the band's knack for high-energy emo-influenced dance-rock. Just when you think White Tie Affair is a flirty, '80s-centric new wave/R&B ensemble they flip the script and layer on slabs of heavy guitar and driving, yearning beats. Surely, they will draw quick and easy comparisons to Justin Timberlake and Fall Out Boy for their ability to mix sexy, club-ready workouts with more rawk-oriented, emo-power ballads. In that same sense, with frontman Chris Wallace's high-pitched, sometimes falsetto vocals -- not to mention his choppy hair and androgynous snarl giving him the appearance of a more scrubbed-up Urban Outfitters version of Billy Idol -- they narrowly avoid a direct comparison to Maroon 5. Helping White Tie Affair out of this pigeonhole is a playful batch of catchy tunes that are expertly crafted with just the right amount of retro-synth, ersatz glam guitar, and pulsating dance grooves to make the band ready-made poster boys for the college club scene. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi