The XXX-rated quartet Hoobastank arrives on this self-titled major-label debut as a nu-metal Weezer, though without anything as cheekily subversive as "Hash Pipe." The similarities lie more in Hoobastank's tight playing and vocal harmonies than in the overblown post-teen lyrics. In track after track, singer Douglas Robb is in crisis; whether he's intoning or yelp-rapping his words, they are never as articulate as the emergency-siren guitar of the punkish "Pieces.
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