Grand Theft Audio

He didn't want to make an album that makes people say 'Oh, that's all right,'" Grand Theft Audio frontman Jay Butler has been quoted as saying. \nUnfortunately, for Mr. Butler and the three other members of this eclectic British rock quartet, that's exactly what they did.\nBlame Everyone isn't a terrible album but a flawed one: It's one-half of a really strong piece of work. Four of the first five tracks -- "Death to the Infidels," "We Luv U," "Stoopid Ass" and "Rock the House" -- are tight, catchy tunes rooted firmly in rock and techno roots. The second half of the album is quite sad, save one track, "As Good As it Gets." Despite sharing a moniker with the slightly overly sentimental Jack Nicholson flick, this song is pretty solid.\nThat's 10 tracks in total, folks, and it doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that half these songs suck while the other half rock.\nWhat exactly went wrong? The melding of rock and techno elements that served the album's first four tracks so well grows tired on the second half of Blame Everyone. The techno aspect of the tunes overshadows the rock elements, resulting in a series of flawed compositions. The aforementioned complaints in conjunction with occasional lapses into bs posturing by Grand Theft Audio, lend the latter portions of Blame Everyone a rather annoying quality.\nBlame Everyone is a thoroughly mediocre debut for Grand Theft Audio. It seems as though they blew their figurative wad on the first half of the album. I would advise against purchasing Blame Everyone and would even go so far as to discourage you kleptomaniacs out there from pilfering it. Quite frankly, it's not worth the effort.