A couple of months ago, a friend of mine recommended that I take a listen to AWOLNATION’s first single off of his debut album, Megalithic Symphony, “Sail.” After my first listen, I outright labeled it as just some song, nothing special at all. Well, day by day, I kept humming the hook, “Blame it on my ADD, babay.” No matter where I was, no matter what I was doing, that ONE PART of that song became an almost mental virus. It’s safe to say that the song grew on me, and apparently, grew on a lot of people, as it is slowly moving up the Alternative charts.

This then grew into a curiosity to me; if one single off of this fifteen song LP, what could the rest of it possibly sound like? After multiple listening, AWOL started to feel like if you’d combine Gorillaz, Mindless Self Indulgence, just without the finesse of both of the bands.

Aaron Bruno, frontman of AWOLNATION, was previously affiliated with pop-funk group Under the Influence of Giants. In his debut album Megalithic Symphony, Bruno trades in his radio friendly pop voice for a more evil, gritty, dark scowl that makes him sound more like MSI’s Jimmy Urine from Mindless Self Indulgence than his UTIOG doppelganger. There are moments that he goes back to where he truly shines, including the funk-inspired “Wake Up,” and inspirational-Bono-esque “All I Need.” The FIFTEEN minute “Knights of Shame” seems to mix both UTIOG and Gorillaz, with both funk sections that brings out Bruno’s true singing voice, with some decent hip-hop sections that is reminiscent of Demon Days.

Speaking of Gorillaz, a lot of the beats throughout Megalithic Symphony feels like it would fit in perfectly to a B-Sides to Plastic Beach. Bruno knows how to make a song both feel like it could be played on the radio, without having his fans claiming that he has sold out.

However, he biggest problem that I have with this album is how broken it feels throughout. The first two “tracks” (that combine for one minute and twenty-six seconds) have nothing to do with one another; the title track is a great introduction to the album, but is followed up by Bruno describing some dream that fits nowhere in the rest of the album. Songs like “People” sound great, but once it breaks into the chorus, Bruno goes to screaming under the track, as opposed to just singing. A lot of radio friendly pop hits, Also, a lot of the tracks seem very repetitive, like “Burn It Down” and the bland hip-hopish track “Swinging from the Castles.”

Megalithic Symphony isn’t a masterpiece by any means, but it also isn’t trash. For his new IP, it’s incredibly promising. However, I feel like Bruno misses the mark in a lot of places. Though with his incredibly large fan base, I can expect a very strong return once Bruno goes back into the studio. There are a couple that will still be listened to, at least until a new album comes out. I have full faith that Bruno will come back stronger than ever, but that won’t be for a while. At least I still have “Sail” to listen to while I wait.

Final Grade: C

Go Download: “Jump On My Shoulders”