Nondescript and riddled with clichés, The Napoleon Complex’s album “How Does Salt Water Mix With Tea?” uses simplistic limericks and Rodrigo Espinosa’s whiny, thin falsetto to channel the Soma crowd that outgrew Soma. Even its album’s introductory song shares the band’s name and album title. If that’s not unoriginal, what is? Mixing equal parts of The Mars Volta, Coheed and Cambria and Panic! At The Disco, this band means well, using Gary Hankins on its opening number and incorporating Latin elements in one of its songs. However, it falls flat in its execution. “My Autobahn” is a great example of this, with insightful lyrics such as “We used to walk / we used to talk / we used to be so much more.” Although, there is an odd breakdown featuring the brass section from local favorites the B-Side Players. In general, these lads would benefit from a few writing classes. Lines such as “I walk on streets paved with rose petals / In my automobile” on the track “Gold Medals For Everyone” just do not make coherent sense. The band sounds like it has talented musicians, but is lacking in the creativity department.

Artist: The Napoleon Complex
Album: How Does Salt Water Mix With Tea?
Grade: C+