The incredible duo that makeup Karmin first broke out a bit with their single “Cash Your Party”, then brokeout a LOT with “Brokenhearted”. In the past few weeks, “Brokenhearted” has won the hearts of many a pop fan even though it didn’t get very high on the leading music charts. I know I heard “Brokenhearted” on the radio many, many times; however I had no problem with this because the song is fucking fantastic.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the rest of Karmin’s debut album, Hello, which was released on May 8th. As a whole, the album isn’t particularly impressive. Each song seems to be generically pop sounding and boring. Almost all of the songs are, as a whole, boring but have individual parts which show Karmin’s real talent.
“Coming up Strong” is a great example of this. Unlike many of Karmin’s other songs, in “Coming up Strong” you get to hear Nick Noonan’s voice rather than Amy Heidemann’s. Granted, Amy’s voice is incredible and she is a fantastic vocalist in everything she does, but Nick’s voice on this track added a great element to the song that can’t be overlooked. What sucks is that that’s really the only great part of the song.
In the title track, the beat leading up to the chorus and then the chorus itself are pretty solid. If anything, they just need more energy put to them. However, a great chorus expects a great verse and when each verse comes up; each verse leaves me feeling bored and confused about what Amy is even talking about. In “Hello” and “I Told You So” especially, Karmin’s rapping and almost-singing sounds very Nicki Minaj-esque and it’s really disappointing.
In summation, I would give this album 2 stars out of 5. Each song seems to have the potential to be insane and brain shattering, but Karmin let them fall flat. Perhaps when performed in concert the album will come alive, but as it stands right now, Karmin really needs to up their game for their next album. It’s a shame that the single they put out was ten times better than "Hello".