With that said, though, Staring into Nothing - Rogers' musical vehicle - emits some highly polished depression. Drummer Matt Chamberlain, who has performed with A-list artists like Morrissey, Randy Newman and Bruce Springsteen, doesn't lend his skills to just any old artist. The music this act creates is best described as artful pop, as its instrumentation takes an every-hair-in-place approach.

Lyrically, Rogers may sometimes be a little too influenced by Waters at times. The school dissing track, "School Daze," with its children's chorus backing vocal section, for instance, is just a little too close to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" for comfort.

Rogers' lyrics, which read like the diary entries of a perpetually depressed young man, can be a little emotionally overwhelming. Sure, there are plenty of reasons to be depressed these days; but when a person simply refuses to observe the good left in the world, it's a little disingenuous.