Watashi Wa - The Love Of Life 
Rating: 
 

Just when you thought legitimate "pop-rock" had been bastardized by a thousand pretenders who are heavy on pop and light on rock, here comes Watashi Wa to shows us that the two music forms can happily co-exist and to good effect. 

This is an album of richly crafted and sonically pleasing poppy rock tunes. The band's blend of melody and hooks should make this album a shoe in for Top 40 radio play and when measured up against the heavy hitters they have no problem winning the day. 

Before you get the wrong impression, there is more to the band than just the pop rock and they dive into other realms of music like 80's new wave and also border on the punk side of the street at moments. 

The band definitely benefited from a masterful production from GGGarth Richardson (Chevelle, Rage Against the Machine) who helped them reach their musical aspirations in the studio. Taken as whole, the album songs like these songs were years in the making (and perfecting), which seems to be the case as vocalist Seth Roberts started work on the group in 1996 at the ripe old age of 13. 

Seven years later, we hear the fruits of that labor and Roberts can be proud of what he has accomplished. The music is far more mature than the hundreds of pop-punk bands that are taking up precious room on record company rosters. Watashi-Wa bypasses those pretenders and finds themselves in happy company among bands like the Goo Goo Dolls, Switchfoot and the Gin Blossoms. 

 When people see that this album is put out by Tooth & Nail records, a red flag might go up, "oh no! Not another Christian rock band!" Do not fret,  Watashi Wa do incorporate their ideals into the music but they do it in such a way that you can take it or leave, or not even pick up on the Christian leanings on most of the songs unless you know to look for it.

I usually like to list the stand out tracks on an album, but in this case they all pretty much stand out and measure up. Each track has its own charm and character, so the album is best experienced as a whole. 

With that said, I must confess that I'm not a huge fan of this type of music. Mostly because bands that have tried to fit this mold have failed miserably and ended up far too sugary and sweet. That isn't the case here (ok it might be too sugary for some). While the music isn't mind blowing or earth shattering, Watashi Wa are definitely far better than most bands ruling the airwaves and worth a listen if you have a spot in your heart for pop infused rock, that's not quite heavy enough to be called power-pop.  

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