Thee Armada’s The New You shows how easy it has become to write catchy — in the most clichd sense of the word — pop punk. The group gives listeners the sound they have come to know and love. However, the formula laid by their heartbroken forefathers — Saves The Day, Midtown, Taking Back Sunday — is one too easily followed. The structure is set and all that’s left to do for bands like Thee Armada to succeed is to insert clever-guitar parts, a short-but-sweet breakdown or some idea of poetic lyrics in the appropriate places. Thee Armada has the formula down, but still comes up short in comparison to their predecessors. Save the Day’s Chris Conley is surely one of the genre’s greatest wordsmiths, and Armada’s Joshua Caddy will never best him with the likes of “Hotels and Heroin,” a song about two adulterous, drug-addicted lovers with a chorus hinting that the track is a pointed statement: “Don’t sit tight / Don’t pretend this song’s not about you / You’re not invincible, you’re not invincible.” Although the words are delivered in a made-for-sing-along format, it’s too literal and nothing any of the other bands haven’t already done. That could be said of Thee Armada’s entire effort on The New You. It’s not bad, but they’re about seven years too late to join the fleet of memorable pop punk outfits.
This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2007.