A good album for fans of mature, middle-of-the-road adult-oriented pop. The vocals recall Morrisey a little bit. Some of these songs would work good in a teen romantic comedy or on the WB.
Singer Joe Scheirich, the man behind Ultratone, has a really nice falsetto. His vocals remind me a lot of Morrisey, although Ultratone hails from Louisville, Kentucky. Aside from that, the most distinctive thing about Pass It Along is the guitars which are at times quite nice in a dreamy, textural way.
"Where Did You Go, My Love?" Benefits from a really nice textural guitar part, maybe sounds a little out of place, but a nice part nonetheless. The 80's style glam-metal ballad solo is.... whoah...
"Nothing To Say" suffers seriously from funky wah-wah guitars and congas that don't work. But some nice jazzy harmony vocals and chord progressions help lift it out of the mire. Scheirich should not try singing like Sade... does not work.
"Black and White" cranks the energy up a little with crunchy guitars and a somewhat driving beat. Again the harmony vocals are the strongest element in the song. It's rare to hear harmonies as harmonically rich and sonically sweet as these.
Ultratone could do with a little more of this ballsy sound.
