Cute Is What We Aim For are a four piece Power Pop band hailing from Buffalo, New York. Having formed in 2005, the band released this début album 'The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch' in 2006 through the record label Fueled By Ramen. Shifting 13,651 album copies in the first week of release, the album broke the record label's internal record set by Panic At The Disco's 2005 release of 'A Fever You Can't Sweat Out' by a massive 4000 copies. Given that Panic At The Disco's album went on to become a Platinum selling album (selling over one million copies), this is quite an achievement. The band have gained massively in popularity since the release of their album last year, and have unsurprisingly now been snapped up by Atlantic Records.

For me, the album has many high points and in fact each and every single one of the twelve tracks on display here have me singing and dancing along. There are of course a few that do impress me more than others mind, these being opening track 'Newport Living', the mighty 'Risque', 'Sweat the Battle Before the Battle Sweats You', 'The Curse Of Curves' and the albums closer 'Teasing to Please (Left Side, Strong Side)'. It is perhaps harsh to say that these five impress me more than the others as when I listen to the album I listen to it as a whole and never tend to listen to the tracks individually, however when I think of the album it is these that spring to mind first.

Having now signed to Atlantic Records, the band will surely soon be coming out with a second album. I for one can't wait for them to do so, as if they produce another album anywhere near as good as this first one then we will all be in for a massive treat. There was great animosity surrounding this album for the bands 'excessive' use of Auto-Tune, an audio tool used to disguise any mistakes or inaccuracies encountered during recording. The album's producer Matt Squire, and Cute Is What We Aim For vocalist Shaant Hacikyan admitted that Auto-Tune had been utilised during the recording of this album, however I do not feel that the band should be criticised for this as 'The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch' is a mightily impressive album, and even with the use of Auto-Tune there are many an artist that still fail to impress. Sure, Auto-Tune can cover up minor mistakes and inaccuracies but it can not account for the fact that Cute is What We Aim For début album is a fantastically infectious affair of twelve musically well written Pop songs. It is not easy to write good Pop music, however on twelve occasions Cute Is What We Aim For have here proven that they are able to do so and should be respected for that. There are not many bands that get it right with their first album, however Cute Is What We Aim For can without a doubt be seen as one of them.