Simple Plan (2008)

Image credit: Warwick Saint

SIMPLE PLAN Self-titled third album offers the same old same old from the pop-punkers, with Top 40 production sheen

These Montreal mallrats dial up the ''pop'' half of their pop-punk formula on Simple Plan, their self-titled third studio album, enlisting Top 40-friendly producers like Max Martin (Kelly Clarkson) and Nate ''Danja'' Hills (Britney Spears) to give their tunes a glossy sheen. And yet there aren't enough synth-wielding Svengalis in the world to disguise the tricks that this quartet has always relied on: super-tinny guitars, extra-whiny vocals, an occasional dash of misogyny. All things considered, this Plan to update their sound winds up being too Simple. C-
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