Even though the Dan San Band has aptly titled its album Cockypop, and has clearly spent some amount of hours figuring out Green Day and Blink 182 songs, the effort as a whole is about as inspiring as a plain bagel, or any food item billed as "original flavor." Despite some skillful guitar execution, cool keyboard parts that almost touch The Cars, competent melody and harmony vocals and vaguely Stuart Copeland-like drumming, the big picture is sadly overshadowed with banal lyrics worthy of Britney Spears or Hallmark get-well cards. For example "I see you. I feel you. And I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you. I need you. I can almost taste you," or "I am the one that carries you. And I am the one that feels your pain. I’ll be the one that shows you through, But you are the one that steals my fame." Ugh. It’s really kid of a shame–the catchy pop progressions are there, the instrumental chops are tight, the production sounds great–but really, what’s the point in spending tons of time and money on rare tempera paints from Italy if all you’re going to paint are some pretty close copies of ‘Tippy the Turtle?’ I guess I would probably love this album if I were eleven, but in the same way I feel bad for anyone who is eleven these days–everything’s been recycled three or four generations worth at this point, and this album’s already been made 200 times.
