The major thing to happen to
Our Lady Peace since the 2005 release of
Healthy in Paranoid Times is the public embrace of
David Cook, winner of the 2008 American Idol.
Cook often called
OLP his favorite band, enlisting the group's
Raine Maida to co-write three songs on his debut, a development that could theoretically lead to a bigger audience for the Canadian post-grunge band, something that
OLP appear to have kept in mind for their 2009 album,
Burn Burn, if its streamlined sound is any indication. For all intents and purposes, this is another
Our Lady Peace album, still sounding like a hybrid of
Joshua Tree-era
U2 and latter-day
Goo Goo Dolls, but the quirks, including the political inclination of
Healthy, are toned down in favor of a gleaming adult alternative sound. Because
OLP still fancy themselves a rock band first and foremost, the slower moments are anthemic rather than sappy and the fist-pumping rockers are infused with righteousness and not mirth, with the two extremes tied together with an earthbound spaciness that splits the difference between
U2 and
Coldplay. The textures are right but
Our Lady Peace remain deficient in hooks and melodies, something that didn't matter as much when their sound boiled with indignation instead of merely simmering, as it does here. Without that energy, they just tend to drift into the background, creating a perfect mall-rock accompaniment to their disciple
David Cook.