perfidy

Being that I am from Northeastern Ohio I retain a certain pride in the region, especially when it comes to the music scene. Consequently, when co-blogcritic person Craig Lyndall offered me an album by Lovedrug, a new Canton band who, according to him, put on a beautiful live show, I jumped at the chance. What's new in Canton?

Lovedrug are a four-piece group in the young tradition of Radiohead and Coldplay who have a few big things going for them-- a tight sound, a good producer, and a phenomenal singer among them. Unfortunately, their debut, "Pretend You're Alive" lacks memorable songwriting and strong lyrics, leaving the impression of a band who has a lot left to prove.

A few tracks impress. The shiny surfaces of the opening "In Red," the disturbing and violent lyrics of "Blackout," and the Coldplayesque arrangment on "Candy" all hint at good things to come, but over the course of the album's 13 tracks ear fatigue sets in and the high points get smeared into a samey haze.

As with most albums I review, I put "Pretend You're Alive" on autorepeat and waited to get sick of it. After five or so straight times through, I wasn't ready to chuck it in the bin (good news) but also hadn't noticed a single transition between tracks apart from the album starting over (bad news). A few more listens and I still wasn't able to tell the songs apart. Although not boring, there's just nothing here that works too hard at being interesting. Although Lovedrug sound great (especially if you really, really like Coldplay) they play like a Saturday Night Live movie of the rock world -- a really good four-minute sketch stretched very thin.