I was once horribly offended when I read a piece where one of my favorite local bands was dismissed as an unnecessary, overly conventional rock band. I eventually realized that there was a lot of truth in what the critic said, and that there are too many rock bands doing the same thing these days. That doesn't mean, however, that all such bands are necessarily boring and uninspired. Some “unoriginal” rock bands manage to achieve a kind of greatness (check out The Retribution Gospel Choir in concert sometime.) I don’t know exactly what elevates and separates the good ones from the bad ones, but whatever it is, it's not present on Title Tracks' debut album It Was Easy. This is just a dull and uncreative pop album that does next to nothing to stand out from the crowd of similar albums already out there. Even worse, Title Tracks have a tendency to squander strong melodies and drop the ball on what would otherwise have been their most promising songs.

Opener “Every Little Bit Hurts” is not entirely terrible. It’s pretty catchy, and there’s at least some sonic progression here: hand-claps and tambourine keep time at the beginning and eventually yield to strong drumming, while the organ waits to make an appearance more than halfway into the song. But there’s just nothing going on beneath the surface to hold one’s interest. Dozens of similar but more compelling songs are readily available from other bands. That track is followed by “No, Girl,” featuring guest vocals by Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura, which temporarily slows down the pace of the album. It opens with just saxophone and guitar, but soon turns to more conventional rock instrumentation. Instead of a dull up-tempo pop-rock song, we have a dull mid-tempo pop-rock song. Not much can be said about the unfortunately named "Black Bubblegum" that I haven't already said about the previous two tracks.

Dullness would be my only real complaint about this album if not for band leader John Davis’ singing. Usually his voice is inoffensive enough: a typical young indie rock croon that I don’t really like but have come to tolerate. Unfortunately, he occasionally decides to sing in an unpleasant falsetto, sometimes utterly ruining what might otherwise have been a good song. “Piles of Paper” starts off with a strong melody and fun drumming, making me think I had finally found a likable track until the band changed the melody into something much less exciting and Davis' voice climbed into obnoxiousness. The original melody comes back, but any interest is already lost. Ditto for “Hello There,” which has a vaguely danceable beat that would be enjoyable if not for Davis’ singing.

Thankfully, Title Tracks quiet things down for “Tougher Than the Rest,” a pretty piano-driven Springsteen cover featuring some more Tracyanne. There’s also something nice going on with the bass and drums in the background. It’s a subdued song that is a welcome break from the frantic energy of the previous five tracks. Maybe she should have sung on the rest of the album. “At Fifteen” is another quiet affair, this time with just acoustic guitar and reverb laden vocals. Unfortunately, that goddamn falsetto comes back and ruins it. Its two and a half minutes of painful warbling.

It’s really a shame that these guys opted to bury two of their few good songs at the end of the album. “It Was Easy” would not be a contender for title track status on most albums, but on this one it stands out. It’s a simple, straightforward pop song. The playing may not have the same energy as some of the other tracks on here, but it isn’t missed. The melody is strong and works much better with a little bit less. And then there’s the final track, “She Don’t Care About Time,” which is perhaps the first thing on here that I genuinely like. It's unfortunate that I have to say that about a cover, but it's true. Though they couldn't manage to make any good tracks themselves, at least they managed not to ruin a song copped from The Byrds. But one decent cover certainly does not make an album, and even this one is tarnished by Davis’ high pitched singing at the end.

Track List:
1. Every Little Bit Hurts
2. No, Girl
3. Black Bubblegum
4. Piles of Paper
5. Hello There
6. Tougher Than the Rest
7. Steady Love
8. It Was Easy
9. At Fifteen
10. Found Out
11. She Don’t Care About Time