The name Yellow Second may not mean much to you, but perhaps it does to Five Iron Frenzy and The Rocket Summer. All four of the guys in Yellow Second are former members of one of those two popular acts. They have been together for a couple of years and have released a pair of independent releases, but now they find themselves in the limelight on Floodgates Records with their national debut Altitude.

Yellow Second's sound can probably best be described as a more laid back Weezer, back during the Green Album days. Pop/rock is the name of the game here. All thirteen tracks have the same catchy, hook-driven sensibility that Weezer represented a few years ago on their third album.

Lyrically, Altitude is a bit cryptic at times. "Mulberry" confronts a friend drifting away into worldliness, "When to begin? Tomorrow, so you say. I wonder when tomorrow will become today. Try to pretend there's nothing wrong. Are you the friend I knew so long?." And "Chance of Sunbreaks" is an encouragement to make the most out of whatever the situation with which we are presented, "Written all over my face, desperation and self doubt. Gotta get back to a place where the sun sometimes comes out…and the ever passing years, waning too few now to waste. We can't wait until it clears, so make haste."

Perhaps nothing above the norm, but a treat, indeed, to listen to over and over again. Yellow Second has a quiet presence about them on Altitude that is unique is most every sense of the word. While there is nothing specific that sets Yellow Second apart from other pop/rockers, the package as a whole is a joy to experience.

- Review date: 05/18/05, written by Josh Taylor of Jesusfreakhideout.com