The issue with Stop! The Reporters Will See isn't so much its quality as it is a lack of variety. The album's ten tracks follow a specific and well-trod formula — unassuming verse, stomp-box-assisted chorus, unassuming verse — and almost every guitar part is treated with the same echo effect, which creates very little distinction from song to song. And although guitarists Ken Adelman and Carey VinZandt are good enough players, Reporters has too many guitar solos — boring, rote guitar solos at that. Singer Jason Robinson is wise enough to write songs in his range, even though it is fairly limited to the lower register. But when Robinson reaches for depth or force, it ends up sounding like a karaoke version of Anthony Kiedis. The disembodied, studio-treated vocals on the moody ballad "Something You Don't" are a nice change of pace; it's too bad that the chorus brings the song back to rock-dude cliché. Reporters is somewhat redeemed by its the final track, "Brilliant Picture." A chiming keyboard line takes the lead and proves that the band can employ melody in place of overly busy guitar playing — giving some hope for the next set of Orbz songs.
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