Review Summary: Never Shout Never does things that have been done by other pop stars, but worse.
Every now and then, an artist with talent comes out of the underground, and makes really nice music. Several rock bands I know of started on YouTube, and now are making excellent music because of constant dedication. However, even with a rise on the internet, artists can be chosen who just simply don't have much potential.
Justin Bieber is one such artist, he was found on youtube, signed, and then foisted onto the scene, releasing generic, uninspired music. Naysayers of Pop music can just use bad examples like Bieber in order to criticize the genre, and most of the hate that pop receives is very well deserved, especially with 'bands' such as Never Shout Never.
The biggest, or at least one of the biggest bases in music is creativity, ingenuity, and experimentation. One of the biggest problems with NSN and pop in general is that most artists use a painfully basic formula, do nothing to make it better or change it in any way, and keep churning out the same album. NSN is guilty of the exact same things... mostly.
As a rule, I'm not a fan on NSN by any means, but (they) have done a few decent songs, and while nothing dazzling, they're not terrible. This EP does nothing, however, to refute the hate for the (band). The less than 10-minute EP is pretty much the same pathetic Ukulele and Acoustic guitar playing, with little to no variation on style. In short, your run of the mill Pop situation, but what really brought the EP and NSN in general, is the exotically obnoxious singing. In "Trouble" he wasn't bad a the mechanics of singing, but his voice has a harsh high pitch, making the song a huge annoyance, even though ironically it's the best off of the EP. The next song is a different story as he shows an incapability to hold a decent note. The rapping (I guess you could call it that) in the middle of the song is good for a laugh, but nothing past that. "Did it hurt" is better, but not much. I've heard the same rhythm for the Uke' part off of at least 5 songs, although the singing is mildly improved.
In short, this EP is the same song and dance, but the sad part is, NSN isn't an inherently bad (band), but creativity is required to keep fans and non fans interested in your music. If this was an LP, it would have received a 1 without any doubt. I do not want to imagine 40 minutes of this. I hate to be the one to hate on the singer all the time, but he's the weakest link in this (band) and if there was a singer without an obnoxious voice in this (band) it would have been a half-decent ep. The lyrics are nothing special either, all three songs are about love in some way.... which is an exquisitely annoying theme in lyrics, which I'm sure we're all tired of hearing about. This just provides another way that NSN fails to make anything creative and new.
NSN as whole is not terrible, but this EP shows that everything they do has been done better. The Bieber syndrome, as I like to call it, is here in full force with an annoying singer. The less than mediocre instrumentals combines with that to make a completely annoying and bad 10 minute experience that should have never have existed.
People should shout never when this group asks if they need to make another EP such as this.
