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Lovedrug

Everything Starts Where It Ends
2007
The Militia Group

Lovedrug - Everything Starts Where It Ends (Cover Artwork)


Review by: Matt Whelihan
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Militia Group (Logo)

Published on June 19th 2007

“Love” and “drug” are two words synonymous with the late `60s counter-culture movement, much like flowers, which just so happen to adorn the packaging of Lovedrug’s album Everything Starts Where It Ends. Psychedelic, right? Well, no. Lovedrug aren’t the next Dungen, pounding out psych-rock tracks that sound like they emerged from a time capsule buried at The Monterey Pop Festival; instead, they are merely a slightly artier version of an alt-rock band. The group’s finer snippets recall Muse or even early Radiohead, but at their worse all you get is radio-friendly fodder that packs about as much punch as Maroon 5. Scary, right? Yes.

The album opens with “Happy Apple Poison,” a song that tries to lock down a funk groove for its verses, but totally destroys the vibe with an attempted stadium rock chorus. The vocals get echo, the drums get the big `80s treatment, and the guitars sound like they have more layers than an artic explorer. “Pushing the Shine” comes next and may manage to be the best song on the record thanks to its Muse-isms. The big wavering vocals, a bit of a dance beat, and some aggressive guitars make the song stand out before another “big rock” chorus buries all that was worth hearing.

Lovedrug may have had a half-decent album if the rest of the tracks followed the path cut by the first two, but sadly they had other ideas in mind, namely a Fray/Keane fetish that translates into piano-led ballads like “Thieving,” “Dancing” and “Doomsday and the Echo.” Each of these songs is soft and safe, playing out in true dentist-office-rock form.

”Love” and “drug” are two things that have led to the creation of numerous songs worth hearing, yet apparently when put together all they manage is a batch of boring and often lifeless rock songs.






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    Posted by RedElephant on 2007-06-21 02:39:10

    these guys have such a SDRE influence circs How It Feels..., or Rising Tide.. it's not even funny.

    this album's got a couple good songs.. some are just fuckin cheesy.

    Posted by oskurt_redwall on 2007-06-19 18:36:25

    Their previous release, Pretend You're Alive, was really good -- I won it on this site through a contest (won three that year and haven't won one since) and was really surprised. The album is half brilliant, half snoozer. I'm disappointed that they've devolved to radio rock. Really lame.

    Posted by KurtTGS on 2007-06-19 15:22:18

    This band is pretty lame, but live they are decent, and that "Blackout" song from thier first album is pretty sweet.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 3:09 PM (EDT)

    You know, I think this was the most well-written and interesting review I've ever read on this website. Nice word choice, informative, etc. Good work.

    Posted by thedude on 2007-06-19 12:18:53

    i saw this band open for small brown bike quite a few years ago and they said something on stage to the effect of "none of you guys like us, we should probably just get off the stage." and i thought, "yes, please do."

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 2:03 AM (EDT)

    give these guys a van

    Posted by crazytoledo on 2007-06-19 00:36:54

    All the girls around here wet themselves over this band.
    I think they played at a show I was at, but I was to busy not paying attention to them.

    Posted by inagreendase on 2007-06-19 00:23:32

    The packaging on this is beautiful.

    Didn't care much for the content, unfortunately.