A Thorn For Every Heart have flung themselves 'wholeheartedly' down the same path of weakened screamo that has worked in varying degrees for young up-and-comers like Saosin and Emery to name but a few. The band snuck up on unsuspecting listeners in the Winter of 2003 with the "Silence Is Golden" EP, a record that earned them quick attention and a spot on select dates of the following summer's Warped Tour. Representing a sound that is as easy to sing along to as it is to forget, this Californian quartet are the next in line to vie for listeners hearts, even as they borrow from others on their pop-friendly Kickball Records debut, "Things Aren't So Beautiful Now".

What is instantly noticeable when listening to this album for the first time is just how familiar it feels. The primary hook of "A Night To Remember, A Morning To Forget" sounds like it was directly lifted from a Yellowcard album, a burden the group does not need considering how threadbare their brand of plucky emo already is. The comparison unfortunately doesn't end there, as A Thorn For Every Heart also inject an unnecessary dose of violin into the mix, making it the dominant instrument abnormality in pop music today. Stitched piano (ala Something Corporate) and saturated screams (ala Finch) also serve as all too often reminders that these boys inhabit a very redundant scene, but in spite of the comparisons, A Thorn For Every Heart still remain catchy. If nothing else, the group surely can handle a hook and do so with as much energy as they can muster, turning otherwise forgettable screamo into artificial pop gems. Songs like "February" and "Summer So Bleak" are catchy enough to warrant some vigorous spins at radio, but if one's looking for longevity this is purely flavor-of-the-week caliber emo-pop.

In spite of how outstandingly derivative this release is, it would be a lie to say it doesn't have massive pop appeal. Shawn Sullivan's over-production coupled with the band's cloying, cliched songwriting panders directly towards a market lapping up the faux emotions a band like A Thorn For Every Heart repeatedly dish out. Though fans who first got a taste of the group from their independently released EP will likely seek this out, it should not go without saying that 5 of the 10 songs that make up the album have been taken directly from the earlier release. These Chino Hills sentimentalists have a steep hill to climb if they have any intentions of lasting longer than the fad they've found their sound immersed in, as along with "Things Aren't So Beautiful Now" comes the sad realization that things aren't so original now either.