This is album number two for Head Automatica, a New York-based power pop act that has been getting a mild buzz in the music press of late.
Popaganda is not an unpleasant listen, but it’s so inoffensive that many of the songs float by without affecting you. Ex-hardcore singer Daryl Palumbo, in his new incarnation sounds exactly like every other rock singer of the last decade: pinched, tuneless and a bit whiny.
The band reportedly trimmed an original track list of 50 songs down to 14, and the album is relatively low on filler. Songs like “”Graduation Day”” are serviceable, danceable pop – not a million miles from Hilary Duff, though one doubts they would admit it.
Lowdown
Head Automatica
Propaganda
Warner Bros. Records
6/10
