Ever since Dawson’s Creek unleashed a wave of ponderous teen angst on the world, a new musical genre has risen: songs designed to be played over a montage of well-groomed teenagers (some of whom look about 30) gazing sadly out of rain-swept windows. From The OC to One Tree Hill and their slightly more grown-up equivalent Gray’s Anatomy, no melodramatic American television show is apparently now complete without a soundtrack of moderately angsty wailing and acoustic guitars (adding piano arpeggios and/or a plaintive string section is optional).
Sometimes innocent bands get adopted by these programmes, and in an age where it’s increasingly difficult to earn a living from album sales, few could blame them for allowing their music to be used. Wakey! Wakey!’s Mike Grubbs went one step further, however. He actually took an acting part in the preposterous One Tree Hill, where he now has the recurring role of a musical barman called Grubbs, all the better to soundtrack the cast’s angsty brow-furrowing.
But what sort of soundtrack does he provide? Well, to be honest, sometimes it’s not that bad. The string, piano and organ arrangements are easy on the ear and there are times when interesting melodies surface through the glossy production. ‘Feral Love’ doesn’t sound very feral, but it’s quite a pleasant slice of organ-led pop. There’s even a hint of a more One Tree Hill-friendly Arcade Fire in the rollicking ‘The Oh Song’. But there are too many moments that feel as though they were written purely to soundtrack someone running through the streets to tell their fashion-designer girlfriend that they love her.