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The Collegian5/29/05 | Variety | « Issue Home
You've heard these songs before
Chris Skillern, Staff writer

Graham Colton and his band are about to hit the road with Kelly Clarkson. What does that mean? How do the stereotypical rock and roll types pictured on the back cover of “Drive” fit with the American Idol? What must this band sound like to be chosen for such a tour?

Don’t be too quick to make inferences. Any speculation based on those bits of information will miss the mark, as Graham Colton is no Clay Aiken, Jesse McCartney or Tyler Hilton. For a better idea of the “Graham Colton Band sound,” one needs only to look to some of the band’s past tour-ing partners: the Wallflowers, Guster and Counting Crows.

Honestly, the songs on “Drive” sound like the aforementioned artists, among oth-ers, before they sound like anything that could be considered a uniquely “Graham Colton Band sound.” But perhaps that is to be expected. Apparently, Colton, an Oklahoma City native, got his start playing acoustic gigs in Dallas. Shortly afterward, he formed the band, which was quickly snatched up by Universal Records before the group had even established much of a local follow-ing, according to some sources. They spent the next few years on tour, “writing songs and discovering influences,” says their bio. At such an early stage in their career, picking up some characteristics from the bands they toured with was probably inevitable.

However, GCB indulge in their vari-ous influences to the exclusion of any real original sound. Every song here is perfectly polished and calculatedly catchy but sounds like it’s been played a million times before.

“Don’t Give Up On Me,” the band’s first single and the album’s first track, is stan-dard pop-rock, just like anything the band’s past tourmates might release. Of course, that’s not to say it’s a bad song. The com-position is strong, the vocals will not get on your nerves and the melodies and harmonies are designed to stick. The same can be said for every other song on the album. All, with the exception of “Morning Light,” are rock-ers in the same vein as “Don’t Give Up,” and all sound strangely familiar.

The song that strays the most from the band’s straightforward pop-rock tendencies nevertheless strays too far in the direction of another branch of rock. With some added reverb and a dose of nasally Liam Gallagher-style vocals, “Morning Light” would be an Oasis song. In fact, it even includes a lyric once used by that band in its song “Don’t Go Away,” albeit in a slightly different form: “Don’t go away. Say you’ll stay.”

Despite the lack of originality, “Drive” is not a bad listen. While the songs may not keep your attention for the entire 43 and a half minutes, they are all well-written, and there is nothing technically wrong with them. The instrumentation is tight, the vocals work well and with a little more time to grow, the Graham Colton Band might be able to produce an album with a sound it can call its own.

www.utulsa.edu/collegian/...ticle=2531