Hawthorne Heights: Fragile Future

Just what are emo bands so depressed about Being a young rock

star making shit-tons of money—when did that become a source of angst As

such, it's hard to take most of them seriously, but Hawthorne Heights

unfortunately earned its distress after screamer-guitarist Casey Calvert died

last November from a fatal interaction of prescription drugs. Calvert's

full-throated bark made the band the most successful screamo outfit out there,

but that's all in the past for Fragile Future, an album that plunks the band back in the rest of

the punk-pop pack. Guitarist J.T. Woodruff has assumed all vocals duties, and

his nasally whine is virtually indistinguishable from the hordes of similar

sounding emo frontmen; that and disappointingly bland hooks make Fragile

Future feel formulaic. Granted, the

group is dwelling in darker territory throughout, and legitimately so (aside

from Calvert's death, the band also just ended a bitter feud with its label),

and the focus seems to be on heartfelt lyrics rather than songcraft. No tracks

stand out until the closing "Come Back Home," which echoes the chorus from "This

Is Who We Are" from 2006's If Only You Were Lonely. Soft and orchestral, with a delicately layered

harmony, the song suggests that the best way for the band to avoid its own fragile

post-Calvert future is to remember its past.