It takes major brass to name an album
You Make Me Hate Music -- wiseass music critics live for the kind of snarky wordplay such titles engender. Lucky for
Finechina, it's difficult to hate the record outright, at least for anyone weaned on '80s mope rock like
the Smiths,
the Cure, and
New Order, but it's hard to love, either -- the synth pop textures that dominated
Finechina's earlier efforts are largely absent this time out, but the band is still struggling to define its own identity, and while it's easy to spot the aforementioned influences, moments of inspiration are in short supply. Frontman Rob Withem is capable of some fine lyrical moments, however -- for example, "Rock Can't Last Forever" begins "So I heard you got a punk band/What's so punk about that?" -- and to
Finechina's credit, the band wears its Christianity a lot less overtly than many of its Tooth & Nail brethren. ~ Jason Ankeny