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Aug 27, 2014 Web Exclusive By Mack Hayden

Ironically enough, Jack Antonoff’s side project, Bleachers, is a lot more fun than the more famous band, fun., for which he plays guitar. Strange Desire is also made up of songs a little less annoying than the overplayed and Queen-plagiarizing “Some Nights” and “We Are Young.” But “more fun” and “less annoying” are about the only adjectives of note you can attribute to Bleachers. Antonoff may be popular but his songwriting leaves a lot to be desired.

“Rollercoaster” and “I Wanna Get Better” are great pop rock singles but if you can listen to them more than three times without looking for something better, you’re a more generous listener than me. Given the other bands he’s been involved in (Steel Train as well as fun.), Bleachers is just another brick in the good-for-one-listen wall. His influences are at least a little bit more diverse on this record but Strange Desire is still pretty unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. Antonoff may want to get better but that still hasn’t happened yet. (www.bleachersmusic.com)

Author rating: 3.5/10