never shout never: cheesy originality Finishing up an acoustic tour, only to take a break before headlining Alternative Press’s AP Tour, Never Shout Never performed Jan. 31, selling out the Bottleneck in Lawrence three days after his debut album What is Love? (Loveway/Reprise/Warner Brothers Records) was released. It’s hard to believe that small-town Christofer Drew Ingle, 18, from Joplin, Mo. elicited the overwhelming shrieks and screams of more than 200 fans, the majority of them middle school girls, after poking his head out of Oak Park Mall’s Hot Topic hours before his show in Lawrence. Ingle made the appearance to promote his new album. Anyone who purchased Never Shout Never’s What is Love? and T-shirt from Oak Park Mall’s Hot Topic was given a wristband that guaranteed meeting Ingle and a poster. But to see all these girls fanatically praise everything Ingle does, even something as small as sticking your head out of the store to wave, makes it difficult to perceive his actual sincerity. His MySpace page reads “I make music for expression; not for a paycheck,” but with his growing popularity and all the
right moves, it becomes harder to accept that Ingle is solely involved in Never Shout Never to express himself and not to feed to his ego. But after listening to his new album, that judgement starts to fade away, and instead, something new takes its place. Some sort of respect? Maybe. At first you can’t help but notice the cheesy lyrics that made Ingle famous in the first place. Lines like “superduper cute” and “baby I love you” take away some of Ingle’s writing originality. But then, focus shifts to his use of melodies and innovative genre-mixing, and then you realize he earns his keep. Imagine a flamboyant Beatles fan taking everything in the pop-music culture of today and the 1950s and using it to try to make the most catchy, indie album known to man, all the while keeping his fan base satisfied with some sort of consistency. Although phrasing the album to sound like some wannabe, hippy trendster trying to create a fresh album might seem harsh, it’s hard not to find reason to criticize Ingle after releasing self-distributed albums that captured the attention of the fan base he has to-
The Office: US vs UK No one expects a paper company to be funny, but the The Office has done just that. With popular series in both the U.K. and America, the show has shed a new light on the dynamics of an office. In 2001, the British version launched on BBC and did not receive the desired ratings, despite the fact that it has now become a hit show in the country. “The spirit of the British show is that the reality of office life is that it can be like a prison,” Greg Daniels, co-executive producer of the U.S. version, said to Associated Press. “You don’t get to choose who you are sitting next to, so you have to deal with characters who are irritating.” The inner workings of the office in which the show takes place are presented in a ‘mockumentary’ style, where characters frequently acknowledge the camera. The characteristically crude, witty humor of original writer and actor Ricky Gervais is evident in the screen writing. His character David Brent is the classic “worst boss ever” with no reservations when it comes to expressing himself. This makes for hilarious entertainment, leaving audiences disappointed when they finish the two short seasons. Since 2005, the American series has also been very successful, gaining some
of the highest ratings on all of NBC. The U.S. and U.K. versions are closely related, with similar humor, characters and plot. “It’s far more exciting for me to be one of the very few Brits who have actually been appreciated by an American audience,” Gervais said to Esquire magazine. Both versions give an inside look at a struggling paper company, and characters are also surprisingly similar. Michael Scott and David Brent are the stereotypical disliked boss, religiously followed by Dwight or Gareth, their assistants. Jim and Pam and Tim and Dawn are all pent up with their jobs, but in love with the other. Even though the show focuses on comedy, its characters are endearing and pull the audience in more and more each episode. After more than 100 episodes, the American version is no longer living in the shadow of the original. The plot and characters are similar, but the U.S. Office is less dry comically. Still, this is better for an American audience, which seems to not only enjoy the humor, but the ongoing story as well. The Office is comedy genius, turning a seemingly dull office into a story that is inciting laughter and garnering fans. Rachel Alvey
day only because of it’s electro-acoustic beats and catchy, cutesy lyrics . But one thing I applaud Ingle for is his choice in producers. Frontman of Hellogoodbye, Forrest Kline, produced his Summer EP, which included some of Never Shout Never’s hits likes, “Happy,” which was featured in a TLC commercial, and “On the Brightside.” Ingle’s producer, singer and song-writer Butch Walker, for Never Shout Never’s current album, What is Love? has produced albums for artists Katy Perry, Dashboard Confessional, Pink, Pete Yorn, All time low and many more. Hearing some of Walker’s original work, similarities can be found in What is Love?, but the era in which Ingle is trying to replicate is definitely different from what Walker has created in the past. It will be interesting to see how Never Shout Never’s album will play out, considering the album is anything but the perfected, produced sound of the mainstream industry, but since the band is signed to Warner Brothers Records, it’s only likely that Never Shout Never will be directed in that direction. nEvan Shinn
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