If Plain White T’s had any sense, they would have quit after the massive success of their middle-school-dance classic “Hey There Delilah.” The drippy ballad is sure to be a fixture on lite FM stations for the next 20 years—it’s already turned up, homogenized and smooth-jam-ified, on this season’s American Idol—and it’s difficult to imagine these emo-punk also-rans producing anything nearly as popular ever again. Plain White T’s are pushing forward anyway, though last year’s Big Bad World predictably underperformed as the band failed to re-establish its forever-lost punk-rock cred. You might as well start booking that “Totally ’00s” tour for 2019 right now, guys.
Updated 07/23/2009