Nearly a decade removed from the super success of "Hey There Delilah,"
Plain White T's
are beyond trying to replicate their breakthrough single, but they're not above swiping a few moves from other mainstream alt-rock groups that came in their wake either.
American Nights
, arriving almost five years after 2010's
Wonders of the Younger
, finds the band copping a bit of
Vampire Weekend
's worldbeat on "Heavy Rotation" and doing the
Mumford & Sons
stomp on "Dance Off Time," forgivable feints to fashion that the group nevertheless pulls off with some aplomb (and they're better than the weak-tea pseudo-reggae swoon of "Someday You're Gonna Love Me"). Most of
is firmly within the band's pop wheelhouse, alternating between giddy, gilded AAA pop ("American Nights," "Never Working") and fleet-footed acoustic ditties ("Time to Move On"). As befitting their plain-Jane name, there's nothing particularly flashy about the pop of
, but on
they construct it and execute it as well as they ever have. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine