Here’s a question: Who hasn’t made fun of the song ‘Ohio is for Lovers’? Be honest now. It’s one of those bitter but catchy tunes that ends up stuck in your head, but smarts of ridiculousness if you ever stop and listen to the lyrics. Personally, I love it, but still end up laughing when I hear it at the opportune moment. Now, imagine you’re a member of the band that actually wrote this single. Imagine getting up on stage in a smoky club and singing “so cut my wrists and black my eyes” with a strait, slightly teary face (all for effect, of course). On one hand, this little song has made your band much bigger than you ever dreamed, but on the other, it’s going to follow you around- and mock you, for the rest of your career.

With that in mind, Hawthorne Height’s latest release, If Only You Were Lonely is a decent effort, though they haven’t switched up their subject matter much. Vocalist JT Woodruff is still crooning about what a malicious bitch life on the road is, only this time the guys try to shuffle uninspired tracks behind the guise of a pseudo-concept album. Using the most pathetic marketing scheme Victory Records has yet to offer, the disc urges teens to buy two copies of the CD for coinciding cover jackets, one with a girl, one with her boy. As a consumer, and a music lover, I found this sad, and more than a little upsetting, since any story line running through If Only You Were Lonely is abstract at best. The only connecting thread here is that all the songs are about almost exactly the same thing.

I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on Hawthorne Heights, though, they aren’t all bad. This new record puts a small twist on things by developing the dreamy detached sound of an opium high, which is much more interesting than The Silence In Black And White’s borderline screamo style. The music is softer, and drumming, is stiff and fits perfectly with the multi-guitar style the boys have gotten proficient at. A few of the chorus’ are catchy the first few times you hear them, but not catchy enough to remember for longer than a week, and not original enough to merit any notice. The best track on the entire album was the acoustic finale ‘Decembers’. Soft and passionate, the song hit the tone Hawthorne Heights seemed to be searching for. Yes, boys and girls, this was the one that made you want to cut your wrists and black your eyes. Again.

You can check out their website at www.hawthorneheights.com.