"Ganging Up On the Sun" - Guster

Can Guster Make Wimp Rock, Rock Hard?

Can a genre of music be defined only by its complete half-assedness? The guys of Guster will tell you that it can, and it is. “Ganging Up On The Sun” is the latest in a collection of over 20 discs released since the band’s first in 1994, but that’s counting internet only albums, singles and live shows. In truth, you probably only know of “Parachutes”, “Goldfly”, “Lost and Gone Forever”, and “Keep It Together”, the band’s main collection of songs, and possibly only of their radio hits, including Barrel of a Gun, Fa Fa, and I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today featuring Ben Kweller.

The guys have been churning out tunes for a while and, for the most part, each album has been great. Earlier works were a bit more rock-oriented and had their drummer, known to some only as Thundergod, working a hand-kit extensively and often to the point of bleeding fingers. As the group progressed the acoustic aspect was played up, the hand-kit became a standard kit, and the vocals softened, leading us to the latest album which I can say, with complete certainty, is the wimpiest collection of songs ever written by someone who isn’t James Taylor.

“Ganging Up…" suffers from two problems: 1. the few good songs sound like they were written by other bands, and 2. the songs that sound like Guster songs never go anywhere and often end without coming to a satisfying conclusion. One Man Wrecking Machine sounds like Coldplay, and Manifest Destiny sounds like Ben Folds Five, but here’s one upside to the facsimile: Guster does the Five and Chris Martin better than the Five and Chris Martin do. Sadly, the remaining tracks don’t pan out as well. Some merely feel unfinished (Empire State, Lightning Rod), while others drag out and yet go no where (Ruby Falls). These tracks would be great if they had some more effort put in, but as it is, I get the feeling that the boys just ran out of energy. A few highlights are The Captain, The New Underground, and The Beginning of the End, but mostly because they are very similar to songs off of previous albums: Jesus on the Radio and Red Oyster Cult, respectively.

Having listened to this album in the neighborhood of 25 times, I’d say download it or have a friend burn it for you. Over time it is fun to listen to, but pound for pound, Wimp Rock is weak sauce.