It's hard to say with any real sense of certainty whether Losing September plays mediocre metal-tinged emo or mediocre emo-tinged metal. Either way, the music's impact, or rather, total lack thereof, remains the same.

The fact that there isn't a single original, inspired or even vaguely ear-catching moment on BBs and Duct Tape probably won't come as too much of a surprise to those who have watched, numbly, as the twin beasts of emo and nü-metal/emasculated hard rock have corrupted the talents of an entire generation of young rock fans. Still, it hurts to hear it. "Why does everything you do always seem to hurt me, too / All the happiness I had / Never seems to want to last." Those lines come from "Can I Walk Alone", but rest assured that they could have fit into any of these songs. Let's not trouble ourselves for too long with the philosophical and grammatical conundrum inherent in the idea that "happiness" can "seem to want". Let's focus more on how utterly, profoundly banal those words are. Seriously. Fuck.

The guitars are alternately soaring and crunchy, the bass is competent, the vocals are wrenching yet lame, the drumming is "look at me! look at me!" over-the-top. Losing September may be the victims, growing up during a particularly fallow period in the history of rock and roll, but you can't absolve them of all of their sins. Put BBs and Duct Tape on the pile with the other three hundred thousand million recent albums that sound just like it... and leave it there.