Album Review :
Manufactured Defects - Reprays

Band: Manufactured Defects

Title: Reprays

Label: ManDef Records

Release Date: December 9, 2008

Reviewer: Joshua Clark

Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Sweet Groove
3. I Told You So
4. Melody Harmony
5. On Empty
6. Left @ C
7. Sweet Intro
8. So Sweet Sweet Sour
9. Giddy Up and Dance
10. Try Once More
11. It’s Nata You It’s Me
12. I Don’t Want to Be Your Baby
13. I’ll Make It Home

Manufactured Defect’s is a pop/rock band out of Phoenix, Arizona. Who released their debut album back in December of 2008. The band is made up of a pretty fun group of guys, whose personality mixes well with the style of music they play.

Musically the band plays an enjoyable, yet pretty standard form of pop/rock or alternative rock tunes with a hint of punk thrown in as well. It’s nothing exceptional but for the genre it is done pretty well. It’s a real fun and catchy sound, which tends to be common for many pop/rock bands. It is kind of just typical ear-candy type tunes that are made for you to enjoy that sport a fun groove and allow you to have a fun time with. Which that’s pretty much what the album is a lot of simple, energetic- high energy tunes that just require that you enjoy yourself. You have heard the sound many times before so it’s nothing that reinvents the wheel but that’s not really the goal here.  The band just wants to take you on a fun journey with some catchy choruses, which ultimately they achieve, that goal. Tracks I enjoyed the most were “Lost @C,” “ So Sweet Sweet Sour,” “Try Once More,” and “I’ll Come Home.”

The band’s two intro’s are a little break from the music and show a lot of the personality of the band. They’re just short, humorous little blurbs that some may find funny and others may find kind of pointless. One is at the start of the album and the other serves as an intro to “Sweet and Sour.”

Upon listening you can tell the band didn’t have a ton of fancy equipment to make this a super-polished recording. But with that in mind, I was really impressed how it did turn out. The vocals don’t get drowned out and Joshua Foster has some pretty solid pipes. The instruments come out pretty strongly as well and the rawness to them blends well with the vocals. Sometimes production can be a real hindrance for some younger, unsigned bands, but that really isn’t much of a problem here.

The lyrics to this album are pretty much about relationships or having a good time in life. So if you are looking for some deep spiritual or thought provoking lyrics in this album you aren’t going to find them. But the band does have a sense of humor that they toss into their songs here and there.  They do this quite tastefully and actually have some rather clever lines at times. At the same time there are lines that seem a little ridiculous and I found myself having a hard time taking those parts too seriously. But that isn’t really the objective to take it seriously either; it’s just something fun, nothing more and nothing less. Which does help make it a really fun and at times goofy experience.  Unfortunately even though I found the lyrics fun, I was hoping for a little more substance. The exception being the last track “I’ll Make It Home,” which takes a more serious approach. Almost too much that it doesn’t fit with the carefree nature of the rest of the album. Nonetheless, the lyrics in the chorus are probably the most heartfelt and made this the song that stood out the most to me out of the album.  These are the lyrics for the chorus:

Don’t worry, I’ll make it home/Maybe, I’ll see/It’s ok to be alone,sometimes, I think/You don’t have to do it on your own/Could you help me?/Don’t think that it was ever your fault/Could you tell this to me?/Pain can’t stop the heart from beating,/you’re the one who can’t stop bleeding/Can’t see what you’re doing to me/Don’t worry I’ll make it home.

The band reminds me of a mix of Capital Lights, Eleventyseven, and a touch of FM Static. Mostly those comparisons come from some of their clever/humorous thoughts in their songs and a little with their sound. It’s fun, energetic, and for the most part pleasing to the ears, taking you along for a fun ride.

Even though the album was fun and catchy unfortunately that alone can’t make an album great. A lot of the songs sounded the same and had the same energetic flavor that a few of these tracks melded together. Not too many though, the band actually did a pretty good job trying to make each song unique and have its own sound. Also by mixing in a few slower songs like “Left @ C” and “I’ll Make It Home,” that mixed things up a bit. Mainly though I think the album needed some more stand out tracks so that the band could break out from the sea of other bands. Even with all the songs being pretty catchy there weren’t really any that had true lasting value. I also thing a little more substance in the lyrical department would help out. The band is positive and all about having a good time, but I was looking for a little more meat to some of the songs.

Overall: I don’t know exactly what I think about this. I didn’t hate it but at the same time I wasn’t totally blown away by this either. It had a few good songs here or there but the rest didn’t really grab and hold my attention. Sure it’s a really fun listen and enjoyable, but there isn’t a ton that makes me want to come back and repeatedly spin it.  Granted part of this has to do with my tastes, I like lyrics with a lot of substance and a bit more of a serious atmosphere to them. So for what it is the album is actually not bad and fans of this type of music will probably find something they like here. So it has a lot to do with what you prefer. If you like albums that don’t take themselves too seriously and are just in it for a fun time and just take you along for the ride; you will love this.  For my part though I say it’s a pretty fun listen the first couple times through, but it’s nothing I see myself coming back for over and over. Which leaves this album as an average release, yet showing some potential for this bands future.