By Ryan Pike
The 1990s were a wonderful time to be a fan of rock and roll, featuring an explosion of hit bands and new sub-genres. The members of The Frauds are all obviously fans of the ’90s sound, because their new album, Hiding Out Loud, seems ripped from the radio waves of 1995.
The second album from the Baltimore-based group, Hiding Out Loud sounds like the perverse lovechild of The Offspring, Nirvana and a blender. The fact that the album seems to arrived a decade late wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t so monotonous. From the rather appropriately-titled opener “Nothing to Say” straight through to the end, Hiding Out Loud continually delivers a consistent sound. Unfortunately, the sound is so consistent, it feels like you’ve listened to the same song 12 times. The band gets slower and softer for a trio of songs, buried deep into the album, but they simply sound like the band’s typical fare slowed down.
Arriving amidst a musical landscape populated by a myriad of flashy rockers, The Frauds fail to stand out. Their latest effort is a horribly flat offering and, while it features flashes of goodness, they’re buried under so much blandness that the album is a chore to get through.