Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 7.0
Production: 7.0
Originality: 7.0
Tracklisting
2. Drunken Lament
3. Please
4. Topeka
5. Lake Pontchartrain
6. Such As It Ends
7. Mutiny Below
8. Streetlights
9. Go-Getter Greg
10. The Horror of Our Love
11. Scream, Scream, Scream
12. In Space
Who hasn’t been in a relationship that is equally destructive and glorious? A relationship so complicated that your friends spend half their time convincing you to break it off and the remainder of the time thinking “You know they are kind of perfect for each other, in a completely toxic way”. Ludo’s second full-length, “You’re Awful, I love you” on Island records, is as multilayered as that relationship. Sometimes humorous, sometimes dark, sometimes cheesy I do not know if I understood every twist and turn this album took BUT I do know when times were good I was in love.
I am a gigantic sucker for over the top theatrics. I heart musicals and if it were up to me people would break into song randomly throughout the day. Ludo “had me at hello” with the opening track “Love Me Dead” (think a lighthearted My Chemical Romance track). Full of hilarious lyrics, Ludo successfully paints a perfect picture of hating and loving the person you are dating. You really relate to Andrew Volpe’s paradox when he states “Kill me romantically. Fill my soul with vomit, then ask me for a piece of gum. Bitter and dumb, you’re my sugar plum. You’re awful, I love you.”
Ludo’s strengths are amplified when they provide the listener with crashing/playful keys (love that Moog), clever/angst-filled lyrics and musical-like compositions. Ludo has that “nerd rock” thing going for them reminding me of Nerf Herder or Weezer. This style is reinforced in tracks like “Lake Pontchartrain” (a song that could easily be in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”), “Go-getter, Greg” and “Drunken Lament”. I adore this side of Ludo, however; perhaps the guys still feel they must experiment with their sound. A twist to the “Ludo show” is the pop/rock alter ego demonstrated in tracks like “Such As It Ends” and “Mutiny Below”. I have mixed feelings about this angle of Ludo’s personality. The songs are catchy but do not hold a candle to the more theatrical choices on this album, I guess what I am saying is- Ludo you can do better than this.
The softer side of Ludo displayed in tracks like “Please”, “Streetlights” (think a closing song on “The Hills”) and “Topeka” did not (at all) tickle my fancy. These tracks were drab and lifeless. While lyrically they still hold (some, though cheesy) potential, musically I often found myself nodding off and skipping them for more attention-grabbing selections. It is not even that Ludo cannot perform slower songs. “The Horror of Our Love”, is full of wonderful imagery and darkly poetic words. This track is magnificently creepy. I love the exhaling harmonizing of the chorus and the simplicity of the accompanying music.
Overall, I am really rooting for Ludo. Similarly to the “best friend” character redundantly presented in teen movies, I want Ludo to “get the girl”. Unfortunately, when all was said and done I only truly liked about half of this album, leaving me frustrated. I could not understand how “You’re awful, I love you” had such witty tracks sandwiched between such mediocre ones. I think Ludo could really be a contender; they just are not there quite yet.
Déjà vu who? – Nerf Herder, Reggie and the Full Effect, Farewell
My Sugar Plums – “You’re Awful, I love you”, “Go-getter, Greg”, “Lake Pontchartrain”, “The Horror of Our Love”