Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

With the album Shatters Into Discontent, The Picture Show provide a commonplace modern rock album in the vein of Pearl Jam with a sprinkle of Incubus thrown in. Fans of modern rock will find that this album is very enjoyable. The vocals and musicianship are strong but, just as many other bands, they fail to find their voice. This album was born from the template used for countless others. It's not bad, but it is typical at best.

The more I listen to the album, the more I feel as if I've heard it before. Sometime sounds like a Pearl Jam outtake. It does sound like they got most of their inspiration for this album from repeated listening of various Pearl Jam albums as evidenced in Lay Down, the racing guitar of Underneath and even the obligatory out of context instrumental in At Most Pt. 3. Listen to the instrumental and try not to see shades of Eddie Vedder. The track Disease sounds like something straight from Pearl Jam's VS. 

I want to really like this band. The original sound they have is buried by their Pearl Jam overtones. They do Pearl Jam better than most though. Maybe that is a good thing because I think most of those bands have sold tens of millions of records.

Good listen but not enough originality.