Mest's debut album is near impossible to find, except through their official site. It's too bad, because it showcases when they were actually trying to make their own music, instead of conforming to every possible pop-punk cliche. The band's semi-serious salute to their rap influence (just look at the title of the CD) comes out in "3'z My Lucky Number" and "To All My Homies," plus they often touch on a poppy ska-punk sound. The largest detraction is that the lyrics are mind-numbingly simple, even for pop-punk - I believe lead vocalist Tony Lovato when he sings "No I ain't got a high school diploma."
Okay, so they have a bit of difficulty singing about anything other than typical high school kid issues, like being dumped, rebelling, drinking and smoking, getting betrayed by friends...everything we've already heard before. But they achieve the perfect lo-fi pop-punk sound, and it's catchy as all hell. Just listen to "Compulsive Prep" or "On My Mind." They genuinely sound like they have potential at this stage of the game. If they really wanted to, they could make their music much better than typical mall punk. Now are they going to do it?
And bang, Mest wastes all their potential. The game's over, kids. Go home. Okay, this CD is not that bad, but unfortunately, Mest is starting to sink in the tar pit known as "mall punk." Tony sings like he has been castrated or something. His voice now has such a sickening "pretty boy" tone to it that it makes you gag. Add in their perfectly spiked hair and the fact that Tony randomly appears shirtless in the CD booklet, and it's pretty clear what kind of fan base they're headed for.
Single "What's The Dillio?" is catchy, but the lyrics are so pathetic that you feel ashamed for liking it. On the plus side, the entire album is very catchy. It would not be so bad, if not for two serious problems: Tony's newfound boy band-esque vocal abilities, and the half-assed lyrics of every single song. They either pick the most obvious word to rhyme every line with, or rhyme the word with itself. Repeat after me: "sent" does not rhyme with "end." Add in that the vocals make every song sound the same and a chore to get through, and this is nowhere near as good as it could've been.
This is more or less Wasting Time II: Bigger Production Budget. Tony's gradually regaining an edge in his voice, but they've added a million layers of harmony over his voice that just kills any improvement he's made. On the bright side, their instrumental work is actually getting better, but that's really the only good choice they've made. Single "Cadillac" nearly kills me, with its lame disk-scratching and boom box beat. Please, no more mall punk.
"Fuct Up Kid," "Chelsea," and "Living Dead" are actually not bad pop-punk songs, and hidden track "Jamaican Song" is pretty awesome. It's too bad the rest of the album didn't follow suit. It's all cliche pop-punk, with nothing really standing out. It's better than Wasting Time; I'll give it that. But it's still not good enough to get an 8. They need to stop the fake harmony, stop the forced sappy vocals, and write their own style of music. The pop-punk genre is already amazingly oversaturated - we don't need yet another band with nothing special about it.
So I said the other albums were blatant attempts at getting a giant teeneybopper fanbase. Well, I hadn't seen anything yet. Mest pulls out every possible stop to get on the radio with this one, including featuring buddy (and lover, if ya believe the rumours) Benji Madden of Good Charlotte on guest vocals on first single "Jaded (These Years)." Tony's voice is no longer womanly - instead, he sounds like he's trying to be John Feldmann from Goldfinger. The song structures are still typical pop-punk, but the instrumental work is slightly better.
Every song on this album sounds the same. It's very hard to sit through. It's such a cliche pop-punk album that it's almost like my intelligence is being insulted. The lyrics are getting better, but that's probably because Feldmann of Goldfinger co-wrote basically every single one. They're still singing about the same old "my girlfriend left me, time to angst and get drunk" bit, though. It's become very tiresome, especially when you consider they've had three previous albums to improve themselves. They need to realize the pop-punk trend ain't gonna last forever, and if they don't shape up, they'll be gone too.