I still blame the pants.

Matchbox Twenty is my favorite band, and I think Rob Thomas is hot stuff, especially now that he has shaved his head. I'm not so thrilled about his going solo though. He sounds different without his band backing him up; there's less of the angry rock edge I love about him. I pray the solo act is a temporary thing that he just needs to get out of his system.

Even as I write this, his first single "Lonely No More" is playing on the radio (what is it about Rob and songs about bitter break-ups?). I've heard it dozens of times already, several times in a day, but last night was the first time I saw the video (albeit a choppy version on Yahoo Launch), upon the insistence of my student Karen. She kept on saying that Rob looked gay in the video, particularly in "those pants," but I refused to believe it of my beloved frontman. However, after viewing the video, I had only this to say:

Damn those pants. *sulks like Karen*

I don't know who told him to dance (and to dance like that!), but I sadly beheld the sight of his lovely tush in those pants swaying in an almost obscenely feminine way. Talk about a buzzkill. He looked awesome with the new hair and the cool shades, but those blasted pants had to go ruin everything.

Stick to singing, Rob.