Good Charlotte's latest disc, The Chronicles of Life and Death, has drawn more sniffs of disdain than usual from the tween demographic, even though -- or maybe because -- VH1 still plugs GC's videos into heavy rotation and the band sounds less generic. Simple Plan, by contrast, seems to be building on its nasal-rock momentum with Still Not Getting Any ... , which merely perfects the Canadians' benign imitation of rowdy Fat Wreck Chords. Here's how the two stack up. Good Charlotte: Washington, D.C., area, five members
The Basics
Simple Plan: Montreal, five members
Modus Operandi
GC: Shares the pain of outsiders everywhere through the spirit of slick punk ditties.
SP: Perfects the art of Livejournal rock by relating to "the kids" via melodramatic ballads.
Self-Avowed Favorites Not Heard Anywhere in Their Music
GC: Morrissey, Muse
SP: Elvis Costello, Bad Religion
R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" Ripped Off
GC: Lyrical sentiments of "Hold On" (Hold on if you feel like letting go/Hold on it gets better than you know).
SP: People abandon their cars midtraffic jam in its "Welcome to My Life" video.
Hollywood Cred
GC: Joel Madden's underage, way-out-of-his-league girlfriend, Hilary Duff.
SP: Appears in the morals-free flick The Real Cancun and on The Apprentice.
Attempt at Maturation
GC: Uses a sweeping, pretentious children's choir to start Chronicles.
SP: Makes a somber anti-drunk-driving video for the upcoming single "Untitled."
Juvenile Antics
GC: Madden reportedly declined to sign an autograph for Lindsay Lohan's little brother, Duff's mortal enemy.
SP: The phrase "Still Not Getting Any" is a humorous double-entendre only to 13-year-olds.
Unfortunate Career Move
GC: Sports Fruit of the Loom-commercial-style food costumes in its "I Just Wanna Live" video.
SP: Tours with Good Charlotte.
Comments (0)