By Jason Robey

Guitars. Drums. Bass. Vocals. Does a CD really need anything else?

Not according to the self-titled major label debut from California rockers Hoobastank.

From the Crazy Train-like opening riff of Crawling in the Dark to the final echoes of Give It Back, this no-need-for-anything-fancy album is a strong base for the best band-that-sounds-like-Incubus since Incubus. However, some listeners may be momentarily confused at the first sight of the disc itself, printed slightly off-center.

The album's 12 songs all fall into one of two categories: happy and bouncy, such as Ready for You; or mysterious and heavy, like Remember Me, and Pieces. Some tracks even draw on both moods, such as one of the albums stand-out tracks, Let You Know.

Guitarist Dan Estrin generally sticks to only two sounds for the entire album, either a liquid guitar that pours through the listener's ear like a waterfall or a smooth distortion that feels like a hot knife cutting through a stick of butter. Though his effects arsenal may be small, it works, making the listener yearn to hear the CD one more time.

Vocalist and songwriter Douglas Robb's smooth high-pitched croon, interspersed with the perfectly placed shots of overdriven yells, flows flawlessly across the entire album. His words even sound strangely poetic, such as in the song Pieces:

I, like a rock, sink.
Sinking 'til I hit the bottom.
The water is much deeper than I thought.
Nothing to swim with.
Nicking but I keep sinking.
A lesson that no one could have ever taught.

Bassist Markku Lappalainen and Drummer Chris Hesse provide a simple, yet strong rhythm for the band to build on.

The album's highlights are the mysterious and quiet To Be With You, the profound Better, trance-inducing Let You Know, and the straight, hard-rocking Pieces.

Hoobastank has been playing together since 1995, rocking clubs all over California and Arizona, and has began touring nationally before the album was even released. 311 fans may remember this group as the opening band at a show in Orem in March, and Hoobastank is currently touring the country with Incubus.

Listeners looking for a new sound to change the face of music probably won't find what their looking for in this release, because they don't really do anything that Incbus and The Urge haven't already done. However, those searching for a strong album from start to finish, filled with songs that will find themselves trapped in your head, begging to be heard again, will be happy with this one.

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