by Corey AparIf Trustkill really wants to cash in on the pop-punk craze, there's got to be a better way to do it than through New Jersey's Crash Romeo. On their debut, Minutes to Miles, it's like the band has rehashed clichés that have worked well for others but in their hands combine to create one utterly forgettable record. Though the murderous album artwork may remind one of a band like My Chemical Romance, Crash Romeo is actually more like a stupider version of Motion City Soundtrack or a darker, duller, less fun version of Houston Calls. After all, those last two bands use synths to their advantage (adding color and variety to songs), while every synth part on this record sounds exactly the same, almost as if the band merely looped recorded parts over every track. Singer\u002Fguitarist Travis Weber has the generic Starting Line pop-punk voice (when his woahs don't sound like Coheed's Claudio Sanchez, that is), but no matter, since their addition of a synthesizer makes them unique, right? Get Up, Shut Up sounds like Simple Plan with a harder attitude, Dial 'M' for Murder throws in random screamo posturing, and though Die in Your Arms is a song of power angst, it's On Deaf Ears We Ride Tonight that aptly carries the torch for the acoustic, pensive ballad. Even if some fans will no doubt be singing along to Crash Romeo's pop-punk ditties about the bitter end of relationships and hanging out with friends, there's not much to suggest that the band has much else to offer to eventually keep them out of the bargain bin. After all, the hands-down highlight of the album is during Hang Your Head when Weber proclaims, I will draw a map straight to your ass\u002Fso you can finally get\u002Fget your head back. Pop-punk may be overplayed by 2006, but there are still plenty of bands out there doing it better and more memorably than Crash Romeo.