Pssstdid you hear that Rooney’s lead singer is the brother of Phantom Planet’s Jason Schwartzman? Did you know they are named after the principle in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? These were the rumors, mixed with some actual truths, being whispered amongst audience members at Rooney’s first ever Boston gig.
Right now, Rooney will live or die based on such rumors and word-of-mouth. Without an official date for a debut album release, the five-piece could almost as easily fade into obscurity as become superstars. Fortunately for them, they are young, eager, semi-talented and, above all, they have the look. They are an 11 on the scale of cool, and they proved it at their House of Blues show in Cambridge last Sunday night.
The members of Rooney wear horizontally striped shirts and look like they haven’t washed their shaggy haircuts in days. Even better, all of them are under 21 years old, with the exception of their drummer. Surely, with such an irresistible style, they must be compensating for being terrible musicians who can’t play music very well. Not so.
In fact, these youngsters have the potential to inspire hoards of other youngsters, much in the same way that Weezer inspired kids all the way back in 1994. There were a couple of moments when Rooney sounded just like a Weezer cover band, but luckily for their careers, they manage to break away and form a distinctive sound.
While Rooney is a modern blend of something everyone has heard before, their influences are different from other hype bands du jour. Their sound owes its soul to ’60’s rock, like pretty much everybody else these days, but they sound distinctively poppy where others are merely trapped in the garage.
Right now, Rooney have one three-song EP released. The songs sound okay on CD, but just about phenomenal live. The sound was perfect in the House of Blues, where you could hear each and every word belted out by their petite singer, Robert Carmine (who has changed his last name).
Though they played better songs, the audience immediately recognized and took to their first single (and small MTV hit video), ‘If It Were Up To Me.’ Like a lot of their songs, it has the charm of being a three-minute pop-rock love song.
Other songs on their EP, though, are questionable. ‘Pop Stars’ is catchy but has the fatal flaw of being a little too clever for its own good. They take a swipe at the current state of pop music, connecting on blows at both Britney Spears and ‘N Sync, as Carmine sings, ‘These are the words of the pop stars/ These are the words of the unsophisticated money-making machines.’ While their sentiments may seem warmed over just one too many times, the song could still spell hit record for this quintet if they choose to release it as a single.
Only time will tell if Rooney’s snowball of hype will lead to fame and fortune. Their major label debut is due out sometime in the spring.
One of the best moments of the concert was when Carmine tried to promote the record and its ambiguous release date. Echoing the sentiments of most of the crowd, one audience member shouts, ‘I want to know the date [of its release].’ To which Carmine shouts back, ‘I want to know the date, too.’
Young, good-looking and clever, Rooney is worth keeping an eye on.