MY VIEW
Music: 'Hopes and Fears' by Keane

By Joshua Huff
Special to The Advertiser

The Verdict: . It really isn't a bad album, but it is bland and gets very repet-itious. THE RATINGS 5 — Outstanding: Add it to your collection now. A must-have. 2 — Great: Buy it or rent it — definitely listen to it. 3 — Good: Worth listening to despite some flaws. 2 — Fair: Unless you're a fan of the group or singer, don't bother. 1 — Poor: Save your money (and your ears).

Rewind: All of the tracks sound eerily similar, but if forced to pick, Track No. 1, "Somewhere Only We Know."

Skip it: None. None are bad, but there isn't one that's great, either.

My view: Lately, the mainstream has been craving music a bit more under the radar and less manufactured ("indie" music, if you will) than the nu-metal bands and pop stars that were popular five years ago (Korn and Britney Spears, etc.). A great example of the trend is Grammy-winning Coldplay. While Coldplay isn't exactly the definition of indie music, it is more aligned with indie legends Radiohead than Limp Bizkit or *N SYNC. Coldplay is selling albums while releasing songs that, for the most part, are pleasant but largely bland and unwilling to push boundaries.

This is where Keane, from Britain, comes in. Keane, for all of those interested, decided to leave the guitars, which are arguably the instruments that define rock, at home. The band gets by juxtaposing their vocals over piano, bass and drums. "Somewhere Only We Know" gets the album rolling, and sounds quite a bit like a song that the British band Travis would put out. The song is a very enjoyable listen, quite relaxing and perfect for those rainy days when you just can't be with the significant other in your life. On its own legs, this song is incredible, using simple (yet beautiful) lyrics like "And if you have a minute why don't we go/Talk about it somewhere only we know?/This could be the end of everything/So why don't we go somewhere only we know?"

The track itself is stunning enough to bring the listener to the floor; it causes knees to shake and legs to wobble. The next song, "This Is The Last Time" starts up, and the listener will probably get to the end of it, enjoying it enough, but thinking it sounded almost exactly the same as the song that preceded it. That, in a nutshell, is the story of "Hopes and Fears." The songs are all pleasant enough, but after a while, they all start sounding the same.

There are no real bad tracks on the album, but there aren't any real great ones, either. The music is pleasant, but it gets frustrating halfway through, when you really want Keane to do something different. This, essentially, is where the Coldplay (they had the hit "Yellow," as well as "Clocks" and "The Scientist") comparisons become even bigger. Both bands just don't seem to push the envelope enough to challenge the listener.

Interscope, which signed Keane, is the sister label to Capitol, which signed Coldplay. Coincidence? Indie rock is selling, and Keane's "Hopes and Fears" is a safe album in a genre known for tons of experimentation. If Keane doesn't push the envelope a bit more (Coldplay did so with its second album), they can bet that they will be relegated to the list of sappy Brit-rock bands that never made it here in the United States.

Joshua Huff is a senior at Moanalua High School.

Have a game or CD you want to review? Reach Island Life deputy editor Dave Dondoneau at ddondoneau@honoluluadvertiser.com.