Truth Or Dare

Truth Or Dare's opener "Heart Song" is the biggest case of false advertising we've heard in a long time. A fist-pumping rock song that combines the riffs from Muse's "Resistance" and the classic song "Spirit In The Sky," it showcases a Joan Jett-meets-Alanis Morissette howl from Automatic Loveletter singer Juliet Simms. But Truth Or Dare plummets from there, going into the nails-on-chalkboard depths of teen-pop that continues to curse us via Avril Lavigne and her like. If the vapid quasi-ballad "Fade Away" or the cheeseball emo-pop of "Story Of My Life" (sample lyric: "I told my mom and dad I was happy, but I never felt so lonely") doesn't keel you over on impact, the utterly dismal girl-power anthem "Butterflies" will wipe you out like some kind of little sister's iTunes black plague. Yes, we're being overly dramatic, but give us a break, this shit is about as dramatic as it gets. Simms has done guest vocals for Cartel, LoveHateHero, All Time Low and more, but her throaty, breathy girly pop enunciation deserves some sort of Oscar/Grammy combo award for best acting on a debut album. Tolerable at best, putrid at worst.

Sin/Red http://www.automaticloveletter.com