The Heartless

The guys in The Heartless are solid musicians, they have amazing energy onstage, and their melodic punk songs are tighter and more crisp than Fritos in a butt crack. So would somebody please send them some good women so they can sing songs about something other than getting screwed over by some bitches that they're begging to come back? "Baby, I'm tired of fighting" the singer announces on the CD's opening track, "Say You Will." But the fighting continues on the next five tracks, with anguished wails conveying lyrics like "I'm sorry for leaving you at the airport alone . . . please forgive me!" ("I'm Sorry"); "The pain inside me's killing me" ("Uno Mas"); "I didn't want it to end like this" ("Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"); "How long must I live without you by my side? I'm so lost without you" ("Mondays Were Always Our Fridays"). Seriously, it's almost enough for the dreaded "emo" label. There are some brilliant musical moments on this CD — the lush opening percussion sequence on "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day," the sullen piano introduction on "If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now" — but the soundscapes are continually shattered by the screams of sensitive dudes done wrong. On the latter song, the singer proclaims, "It's not crazy if you do the same thing twice." No, but it is when you do it six times on one CD. Kick the bad girls to the curbs, guys, before you out-wail your potential.