AFI: Decemberunderground

Herald rating: * * *

AFI, especially singer and frontman Davey Havok, were potentially the voice of a new generation with the release of their sixth album, Sing the Sorrow, about three years ago. The delay in getting out this follow-up (it was due for release late last year) will not have lost them any fans but it lacks the bite of that last album.

The songs are catchy, and the band even get away with the horribly melodramatic The Interview because the tune is so fetching.

But the excellently titled Kill Caustic doesn't live up to its name, and the ballad, Love Like Winter is gutless.

Havok comes across coy most of the time and elsewhere, on raging tracks like Summer Shudder, his singing and screaming turns to hapless pleading and has little impact.

The new romantic, 80s vibe, with hints of Killers-like sentiment, is also obvious and the piano and vocals of 37mm remind of Erasure.

The highlight of the album is the last track Rabbits Are Roadkill On Rt. 37 because it has drive and devastation. Fans of bands like the Bleeders, Rise Against, and even, Taking Back Sunday, will like this album.

While AFI sound like accessible punk rock, the reality is that it is narrow in terms of appeal.

Label: Universal