Artist: Airdate Album: This Isn't How the Story Ends EP Review By: Jay Track List: 1. Pedal To The Floor 2. Jamie (I Know You Hate Me) 3. Falling Into Pieces 4. The Sweetest Thing 5. I Promise If "pop" has truly come into its own as a genre, rather than existing as a nebulous (and often negative) catch-all, then pop is exactly what Airdate is. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends upon your own sensitive music sensibilities…but regardless, Airdate's This Isn't How the Story Ends EP is both energetic and capably executed. What the listener is exposed to is a five-piece pop and keys act with a definite sense and direction. They have been aided in their effort by producer Rob Freeman (of I Am the Pilot, formerly of Hidden in Plain View). Freeman has done similarly strong work for local New England talent Foredoes Me Quite as well as Ohio natives Hit the Lights, among a growing number of others. The sound is clear, strong, and straightforward, playing to Airdate's apparent strengths: melodies and enthusiasm. The five songs on This Isn't How the Story Ends are mixed in tempo, syrupy sweet, and effectively carried out. The delivery is often whisper-soft or full-on plaintive. Singer Doug Del Gaudio jogs the pop line between lullaby (I Promise), ballad (Falling into Pieces), and full-on sing-along (Pedal to the Floor, the Sweetest Thing). He croons, on Falling into Pieces: "every time you walk away / I can't take the pain / and it feels / like I'm falling into pieces over you." These are not dense or particularly complex lyrics, but they don't need to be. In essence, this simplicity is Airdate's major success or weakness on the EP, depending upon your personal opinion. At no point do they defy convention or try to reinvent anything. Their aural efforts are pretty much in line with what you would expect from five guys in a band making pop music that they obviously care about. For what it is, this is solid stuff. If you like pop, and prefer it bright, straightforward, and stripped of unnecessary convention, then check out Airdate and their newest effort, This Isn't How the Story Ends.