Although the Actual's label, Soft Drive, is owned and operated by Scott Weiland, don't expect Stone Temple Pilots-style bombast from the L.A. quartet's second album. Emo-tinged pop-punk rules In Stitches, making the Actual fundamentally indistinguishable from seemingly dozens of other bands in black T-shirts and floppy haircuts. First single "This Is the Worst Day of My Life (Do You Want to Come Over)" sums up the problems with this album as a whole: a catchy chorus is subverted by a flabby, curiously unenergetic performance featuring Max Bernstein's anonymous, disinterested vocals, and the song as a whole goes on at least a minute too long. In Stitches has a weirdly enervated vibe: even speedy tunes like "September Had a Trigger Finger," which should flash by in a post-hardcore blur, sound lackadaisical and bored. "If You See Her" is about as good as the Actual get, with the album's catchiest tune by far and a neat instrumental hook in the chorus. One near-great tune doesn't make an album, unfortunately.
© Stewart Mason /TiVo