Album

"What it Takes" MP3s

• Revolution

• What it Takes

• More on Left Standing

Left Standing can write the hell out of a pop hook. All over the quintet’s latest full-length CD, What It Takes, infectious sing-along choruses, soaring guitar melodies and fist-pumping rhythms ensure listeners won’t be shaking these songs from their heads for days.

Listening to songs such as the heart-on-sleeve ballad “Jeremy,” the righteous “32 Years” and the anthemic title track, it’s not clear if Left Standing’s songs feel familiar from the first listen because the songwriting is so good ... or just so middle-of-the-road that What It Takes is indistinguishable from any other heartfelt pop-rock album of the last 10 years.

But with radio-ready fare like “Brand New Day” balanced with hard-charging numbers such as opening track “Revolution,” it doesn’t really matter: Left Standing will have you shouting along to the high heavens before you even have a chance to question why or how.