It's not quite rock perfection, it doesn't really have a radio-worthy song either, but on the other hand, do you really want local rockers to aim for just a single?

The full-length debut CD from seasoned rockers the Cardinal Sin shows great flashes of brilliance, yet falls slightly short of fantastic. The quartet, composed of former members of Cadillac Blindside, Song of Zarathustra and the Crush, seem to meld incredibly well musically, giving the record both a fun and complete presence.

The band's sound, something of a mash-up of Alkaline Trio vocals (the album was produced by Alkaline Trio's Matt Allison) over Dashboard Confessional and Bloc Party-styled backgrounds work to give the band a familiar enough sound while still covering new ground. On the opening track "Eye-Opener," the Cardinal Sin uses uncomplicated straightforward lyrics, yet manage to express a rainbow of emotions about a supposedly wasted life in the openly questioning line: "There's many things I hope to see/A wife, child a real family/What kind of father would I be?"

In addition to the simple, yet effective, lyrics, the band has riddled "Hurry Up and Wait" with great little rhythm patterns and guitar riffs. Where the band doesn't achieve rock bliss is in their inability to string those strong elements together. No one song really stood out from the rest with an extremely catchy or repeatable few minutes. It's not like the band did anything wrong by recording a clinker-free album, but a definitive Cardinal Sin track would've really sealed the deal.

www.thecardinalsin.com