Love Is All - Nine Times That Same Song Album Review

Love Is All
Nine Times That Same Song
Album Review

Off-beat, electronic indie with Ska elements and vocals that sound a lot like Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's.
The album varies quite a lot in style. At times Love Is All sound interestingly chaotic and rough around the edges, reminiscent of The Velvet Underground; yet with more electronics, while at other times they sound like a pop-dance group.

Unfortunately it is the vocals that let this band down for me. The female singer sounds a bit too self conscious to be natural or true to what she is singing. She never varies much in the way of vocal range, but instead squeaks and shouts in a seemingly unsuccessful attempt to sound quirky and hip, never quite managing to sound as punchy as Karen O or as unique as Bjork. Her voice, however, does juxtapose in a very complimentary manner with the more restrained sounding male backing vocals, which gives a new element of interest.

The lyrics, from what I can make out, also sound too self conscious for my liking, trying overly hard to be kooky and cute and so loosing any potential power and passion the songs may have had.

'I know we like the same kind of cheese',

Although well produced, and by that I mean it's not too slick or polished, this album never quite manages to be as catchy or as epic as it intends to be, failing to make enough of a dent within its similar contemporaries.