Formed in 2002, the five men that are collectively unknown as Letter Kills have plugged away, garnering a small but vocal following attuned to their catchy modern rock with a light punk twist. Though their time spent on the independent scene was brief, they soon found themselves a part of the Island Records roster, and in the spring of 2003 they unveiled a first taste of their pop confections with a 3 song EP. Now the group have returned and they have brought their Dashboard Confessional by way of Blindside style of emo-rock with them, as "The Bridge" hopes to lead to mainstream success.

The songs offered forth are saturated with saccharine-sweet hooks, a fact which certainly indicates hopes for a healthy dose of radio airtime. Despite the almost infectious songwriting though, there is a complete and utter lack of originality present, as these young men have opted for familiar and repetitive as a career choice. There is a slight aura of arena rock braggadocio sprinkled throughout the record, with brief reminders of such legends as Queen (the harmonizing on "Hold My Heart"), and Kiss (the scorching build-up of "Time Marches On" which peters out all too quickly), but the quintet never successfully pull the trigger and instead just tease the ears with hints at what could be. Matt Shelton's emotive voice suffers from a jittery waver early in the record, and while intentional, it is perilously close to being obnoxious. However, as the album progresses he seems to abandon it and focus on his more melodic aspects.

From the formulaic song structures to the faux-aggression that is occasionally wrung out of these emo-rock wet blankets, there is never a time when the group even hint at having a creative backbone. The assimilation is less than surprising and "The Bridge" never actually collapses from their lack of deviating from the script, but once it ends one is left with little memory of what they just heard. Letter Kills aren't righteous offenders at being derivative as the style captured here has become a fairly pedestrian affair, yet it is disheartening to see a young band so blatantly avoid challenging themselves or the listeners; especially since they show promise as well as an understanding of how to write likeable pop songs. This full-length debut shows little more than tepid reluctance to differentiate from the pack, but whether or not listeners are willing to accept yet another watered down rock band is a bridge Letter Kills have yet to cross.