It’s strange how maybe not much more than a year ago something like this probably wouldn’t even get sent to us for review, let alone get reviewed by us. It’s not that we are broadening our horizons but it seems that there’s been a change in the wind as to what people are listening to. The Militia Group are a label becoming famous for putting out releases which not only merge, but redefine and redraw the emo/indie crossover boundaries. I’m pretty sure Ohio based LOVEDRUG fall on the latter side of the fence but that’s beside the point really as this is a pretty unique record.
Whilst the accompanying press release throws around band names like Queen and Muse (neither of which I can hear) the writer got the nail on the head when the words ‘hauntingly spiritual’ were used. LOVEDRUG are certainly a band who know how to capture several emotions in musical form and usually more than one at a time. Melancholy is carried in abundance throughout the thirteen track album but you can’t help but feel the charming and almost joyous melodies break through in songs like ‘Spiders’ and the more upbeat ‘RocknRoll’.
What impresses me about this album is the diversity that’s thrown around; I don’t mean that one song is death metal and the next is Dixie-land jazz, as that’s not the case as all the songs fit so perfectly together yet none of them sound the same. For example ‘Pandamoranda’ is heavily riff based and generally pretty dark whilst the following track, ‘Down towards the Healing’, which kicks off with just a piano and vocals for the first minute, is much more laid back.
Michael Shepard’s lyrics and vocal efforts are worthy of their own paragraph so here it is: Unique is a word I’ve used already but here it is again; the vocals are nasally enough in places to give Billy Corgan a run for his money so I’d imagine they’d be loved or hated in a Marmite type way, on tracks like ‘Blackout’ and the sweet ‘Angels with Enemies’, they work best however and carry the songs to another level. Lyrically it is very mature sounding release in comparison to a lot of ‘emotional’ tripe that comes across the pond; vague yet unpretentious in places, but strong yet weak and most strikingly sincere in others.
In this album LOVEDRUG have covered a lot of ground and with several tracks clocking in at over five minutes ‘epic’ is a word that could be used. But whilst there are a few moments where I reach for the skip button there’s enough meat on this to keep me entertained and coming back for more. I recommend checking this out if you’re after something different to listen to although it may be fairly obscure for a website called Punktastic to review it still gets my seal of approval.
-Mike
www.lovedrugmusic.com
The Militia Group