The band promised the sound of their new record to be a mixture of their previous efforts, somewhere between the fiery teenage angst that was Controversy Loves Company and the more mature, jazzy sounds of Champion. Armed with producer Mark Trombino (Jimmy Eat World, Blink 182) this record has the potential to be the stuff of pop punk dreams.

The band certainly showcase this potential with opening track ‘The Running Man.’ A track that wrestles between the bands infectious energy and sophisticated charm, articulating adolescence. The first bout of immaturity vs maturity and you’ve come off slightly bruised but raring for more. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the rest of the album. The band seem to lack any real sense of direction, with several tracks just sounding like watered down versions of their predecessors. It seems inspiration up and left after hearing that the band decided on the cheeky, but rather bland name Self-Titled Album.

The album’s not a complete write off though. Tracks like ‘Los Angeles’ and ‘Sign. Steal. Deliver’ offer aggressive episodes of endless rock energy, each with its own climactic ending, living up to the bands reputation. The band throw some disco dancing beats into the mix, which compliment the band’s notoriously smooth stylings on single release ‘My Temperature Rising’, but sound outdated and cheap on ‘Over My Head’. It’s this hit and miss aspect of the album which the band should have progressed past at this stage in their career. Instead of sounding like a band at the forefront of their genre, they sound more like one of the hundreds of other pop bands plugging a much overheard sound; a poor imitation of themselves.

Musically the band are as tight as ever, and the production of the record can’t be faulted, however, no amount of sugar coating can make an album. It’s not even a case of all style, no substance; just that a bit more substance would have been nice from a band with as much experience and potential as the Audition. The band seemed to have had it made for them before they even began, and it’s this spitting out of their silver spoons which is the biggest letdown about the album. Hopefully this is just an anomaly on an otherwise bright repertoire, but for now you’ll have to look elsewhere for a soundtrack to the summer.