Rooney plays it safe on new CD
By Jon Busdeker on Jul. 26, 2007
Retro rock outfit Rooney is a five-piece, Los Angeles-based band signed to Geffen Records. The band took its name from the surname of a character in the movie “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off.”
Influences range from the Beatles to the Cars to more modern acts such as Blur. Rooney has also toured with Weezer and The Strokes.
Rooney released its first disc in 2003 and remained relatively unknown until an appearance on “The O.C.”
Having completed its first record, the band began work on its second. Unfortunately, the first batch of songs the band recorded for the album was completely scrapped as the band apparently disliked all of the new material.
Rooney went into the studio again and came out with even more new material for its proposed second album — this time the record label disliked it and it was shelved.
Finally, after touring the U.S. in 2006 with Kelly Clarkson, Rooney found a group of songs everyone could agree upon and “Calling the World” was released.
This is a completely soft, California pop-rock album. The vocal harmonies are very endearing and there are several catchy tunes such as “Don’t Come Around Again,” “Paralyzed” and “All in Your Head.”
Unfortunately, there is too much consistency on this record. It would have been nice to hear Rooney stretch its musical wings a bit more.
It’s a solid, carefree, summer album; hopefully next time around Rooney will explore and release something with a little more substance.
CD REVIEW: ‘Calling the World’
ARTIST: Rooney
LABEL: Geffen Records
REVIEWER RATING: 2 out of 5
By Michael Chagnon, The Burg
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