Colleges today are packed with a dizzying array of hip styles to which many students conform, and with which a few students even identify themselves.
Just today I passed a kid "rocking" an oversized Allen Iverson jersey, followed by a tall thin guy wearing a suffocatingly tight Curious George shirt and slightly more breathable brown flared corduroys. With these stylistic exaggerations still fresh in my head, I turned the corner and almost ran into a kid who might have doubled as a mannequin at J. Crew.
The upturned collar of his polo shirt and his Rainbow-sandaled feet were an all-too-familiar sight. However, amidst this fashion medley there was one constant -- music.
All three of these kids were listening to tunes as they walked to class, bobbing their heads as much as the headphone cord would allow.
Regardless of what else may be said about them, when it comes to music, college students have a passion unrivaled by any other demographic.
The Pat McGee Band has fashioned a career out of playing to college students. When asked why he thinks his music finds such a warm reception amongst them, McGee says that it comes down to one thing -- emotion.
"I want my music to evoke an emotion," says McGee. "I'm kind of a private person, so when I write songs I try to keep it vague. I want all our listeners to be able to connect their own thoughts and feelings with a song."
In an era when sexually-driven, emotionally bereft pop music is the norm, McGee's approach seems to be a novel one. McGee would be the first to admit that his songs aren't for everyone.
While their soft acoustic rock style shows occasional creative spark, with the Pat McGee Band, musical innovation takes a back seat to the tunes' emotive power. Some might see this as preying upon the sentimentality so prominent among college students, but McGee believes that his audience justifies his music.
"I love being hailed as a college band." Mcgee says. "College kids listen to a lot of music and they don't accept crap."
Judging from the kind of "crap" that I've heard just by walking down the halls of college dormitories, this view might be questionable. Regardless, one thing is for sure: whatever it is that many college kids want in music, the Pat McGee Band delivers.
The band's newest release, Save Me, is the follow-up album to their 2001 major label debut Shine.
The new album, due to be released in April, has more of a band feeling, in contrast to the one-man show thatShine was. McGee attributes this sound to a new approach that the band took during the production of Save Me.
"On the new album," McGee says, "the pre-production level was really high. We wanted to have the songs perfect before we even went into the studio. I think the new songs are the kind that you can give to any band, and they can go up on stage and just rock out on them."
McGee's vocals have also developed since Shine. Whereas that album relied a lot upon three-part harmonies to give the songs a catchy, "easy to swallow" sound, Save Me specifically showcases McGee's singing talent.
"I finally felt like a lead singer," McGee says in reference to the new album. "I decided I couldn't be lazy anymore and rely on the other guys to back me up vocally, so I worked a lot on giving my singing the depth it needed to stand alone."
Indeed, the album is a testament to the work McGee has put into his singing. In fact, overlooking a few catchy but overproduced guitar licks, McGee's voice might be the only thing saving the album from becoming an emotional cesspool of unoriginality.
Songs like "Beautiful Ways" and "Set Me Free" rotate between soft verses backed by uninspired acoustic guitar chord progressions, and emasculated attempts at an explosive chorus.
The distortion and volume fail to pull the music from the sentimental lethargy into which it has receded. Despite this, the music provide a fitting backdrop to McGee's impressive vocal range.
Throughout the album, McGee's warm tone and creative voice tremulations establish a dreamy tone of dreary emotional passion. Yet, the undeveloped lyrics prevent the songs from leaving the listener with any sort of lasting impact.
In many of the tracks on the album, McGee's vocals address some anonymous "You" whom McGee is usually either in love with, has been in love with, or will be in love with. As a result, the "You" is never developed, and we are stuck hearing hackneyed reflections on the troubles of relationships and love.
This trend is epitomized in the title to the third track, You And I, and its chorus: "And I don't want you to be over this now / I can't stand the pain anymore / you were the best of love / what was I thinking of? I don't know." Neither do I Pat, neither do I.
One track does warrant at least a passing listen. "Shady," the 11th track on Save Me, deviates from the template set by the other songs.
The song is carried by a spooky slide guitar lead, made all the more haunting by the reverberation used throughout the song.
Added to this is an interestingly strange chord progression that leads McGee's vocals, and as a result the whole track does in fact feel "shady."
In the end, Save Me does achieve what McGee wants from his music -- emotion. Indeed, the songs can put you into an emotional coma if you also dim your mind and allow yourself to be sucked in.
Is this emotional masturbation really what we want from music? I guess that depends on who you are. Is this brand of music popular and economically successful? Definitely.
The Pat McGee Band plays at the Recher Theater in Towson on Thursday, March 4th. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 9:30.
