By Rashod D. Ollison , rashod.ollison@baltsun.com|November 06, 2008
Many bands, even in today's reality TV, Internet-savvy world, go through a stretch of paying dues. The story usually goes something like this: For a while, the group travels from gig to gig in a beat-up van, selling its CDs at shows. A buzz starts. Eventually, a suit at a major label catches wind of the group's "fresh" sound and offers a contract.
By the time mainstream pop audiences hear said band's music, all the style kinks have usually been smoothed out.
Well, that is not the story of Cute Is What We Aim For.
The emo-pop band, whose name originated from an inside joke, landed a major-label deal soon after forming and posting songs on its MySpace page. For the past two years, the group has been trying to find its way musically with the benefit of resources from mighty Atlantic Records by way of the indie label Fueled by Ramen. It's a rare situation these days as new acts are generally expected to hit big and fully formed right out of the gate.
"I keep thinking this is some twisted dream, and I'm gonna wake up and it'll all be gone," says Shaant Hacikyan, lead singer and chief songwriter for CIWWAF. He and his band mates (bassist Dave Melillo, drummer Tom Falcone and guitarist-pianist Jeff Czum) headline the Recher Theatre tonight. "We're signed with an indie working with a major. We have the TLC of an indie and the potent swing of a major. It's a great combination."
With its 2006 debut, The Same Old Blood Rush With a New Touch, the Buffalo, N.Y.-based band garnered airplay on alt-rock stations with fizzy, wordy tunes that somehow managed to be catchy. The album was a respectable seller, snagging more than 200,000 buyers.
On Rotation, the group's new CD released in June, the approach is slicker, the sound bigger and the songs more self-consciously clever.
"We wrote an eclectic record this time as opposed to throwing something against the wall to see what sticks," says Hacikyan, who talked by phone from his home in Buffalo last week. "I wanted to tell stories [with] a beginning and an end to everything, like Bob Dylan and Billy Joel did in the past."
None of the new songs come close to matching the ambition, transcendency or scope of the classic works by Hacikyan's musical heroes. There is a noticeable attempt to unkink his knotty lyrical style as heard on the debut. However, the sentiments haven't deepened much. Blustery and ultimately bland empowerment messages ("Do What You Do") are mixed with awkward romantic come-ons ("Navigate Me"). Lyrically, CIWWAF is still reaching for substance.
