Deliverance has moments where it begins to separate itself from the rest of the modern rock pack. At its best -- on the title track, for one -- the album speaks as a voice for all of those who are out to prove themselves in the game of love.
Quietdrive seems to have the teen-boy-whose-world-ends-each-time-a-girl-rejects-him schtick down to a slickly produced science. "Birthday" is a tongue-in-cheek apology that could have come from
Fountains of Wayne (I'm sorry I forgot your birthday/I thought it was on a Wednesday"). There's more angst-ridden fodder on "Pretend" and "Daddy's Little Girl." Not exactly emo and definitely not punk-pop,
Deliverance falls within its own mini-niche of modern rock with elements of
Hellogoodbye,
Dashboard Confessional,
All-American Rejects,
Finger Eleven, and even
Default. It is an improvement over their debut and easily a step in a the right direction.