Fool's Paradise

It's getting increasingly difficult to differentiate between emo bands and those who are aiming at the top of the mainstream charts. This "dilemma" is exemplified by such bands as Monday Morning. The debut full-length by this North Carolina-based band, 2005's Fool's Paradise, manages to draw elements from both worlds -- although the picture of the bandmembers on the back cover shows that they wouldn't look out of place at a Jimmy Eat World show. Throughout their debut, Monday Morning seems to alternate from song to song between the two aforementioned styles -- tracks such as the album opening "Sunshine" and "Vanity" represent the "emo," while such songs as "These Eyes" and "Wonder of It" would fit well on a new Matchbox Twenty release. Big singalong choruses and melodic guitar parts abound (the track "Dear You" is a good example of this), often sounding like the perfect soundtrack to a new teen drama series on TV. In fact, around the time of the release of Fool's Paradise, the group was invited to be part of Fashion Week in New York City. There's no denying that the material is well written/performed as far as modern-day radio bands go, but there's not enough here to differentiate Monday Morning from the multitude of other similar bands on radio and MTV.