[3/5] Is it cooler to crank out the same chords as everyone else or follow your musical heart and risk sounding like a boy band? That's the question posed when listening to the Higher, the Las Vegas boys who take the R&B and disco sides of Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy to new heights. The album is full of curveballs: Sugar-pop production meets groovy riffs on "Insurance?," acoustic guitars and handclaps drive "Histrionics," and a Patrick Stump remix of "Pace Yourself" is a full-on techno headtrip. And those songs that fall into the emo-pop structure ("Darkpop," "Weapons Wired") work, as well. Overall, you've got to give them respect for venturing dangerously close to Sugar Ray/Maroon 5 world-and making it work. And if you happen to dance along a little, well, that's fine, too. (EPITAPH) JR Griffin
 Official Website: http://www.epitaph.com
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