For now, Ajax's Not By Choice are just four guys in T-shirts playing Green Day-inspired, Edge-friendly pop-punk and waiting for their shot at MTV stardom. Now, it would be too easy to dismiss these boys for following in the Sum's Converse prints, but they've been chugging it out for just as long: three of the 11 tracks on their debut disc appeared on an EP back in 2000. And considering that Sum 41 is pretty much a Blink-182 rip-off themselves, you can't really accuse Not By Choice of trying to ride on their pals' tails.
Besides, Maybe One Day proves that this foursome is no Sum 41. The high-energy, uptempo tunes have the right chugging guitars and melodic, perfectly audible singalong choruses, but there's a distinct lack of attitude that surely even the most diluted modern definition of punk must still require.
Lyrically, vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Mike Bilcox has a one-track mind. Every song on this record is an ode to some long-distance lost love. Titles like "Standing All Alone," "Miss You" and "Now That You Are Leaving" (a rawkin' highlight) pretty much sum things up. Even "Intoxicated" -- whose title seems to promise some misbehaving -- is a sentimental downer. There's a picture of bassist A.J. Bovaird horking a loogie in the liner notes, but that's not quite enough to earn Not By Choice a spot in the punk-rock hall of fame.
