Hate - The Delgados

Could I have been more excited to listen to this album after you had to go and say, "Dude, you're going to freaking love this album!" after you listened to the initial 13 seconds? I was completely unprepared for what followed. The only way I can truly describe the sound of this album is a musical hybrid of the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev with singers that sing on-key and don't whine. Actually, the female vocalist sounds like...I dunno, a cross between Dubstar's lead singer or the female vocalist of Stars or something like that. The guy sounds generic. He's just kinda there. So, the initial challenge that this album presented is the age old question about copycat bands...if it sounds just like a band you like, should you detest them or should you embrace them? I usually dislike sound alike bands if they sound like a band I really really like, especially if it seems really obvious that they are imitating. So, I'm okay with the Editors and Interpol sounding exactly the same, but, I was not okay with I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business sounding exactly like Dashboard Confessional (because I'm a sensitive girl, I guess). The most heinous of all imitators is, of course, Camouflage and the Great Commandment. I would guess 95% of the human race thinks that The Great Commandment was written and performed by Depeche Mode. I bet DM could play it at their concerts and everyone would say, "Oh yeah! What album is this off again?" Anyway, I kept thinking to myself, "Should I like this because they have better voices than FL or MR?" Every time I got passed it, I would relisten to the album and it would come flooding back. So, I sat there and struggled with it before it finally really got to me. The difference between the Flaming Lips (who I'm ok with) and Mercury Rev (who I really like), and the Delgados seems to reside in the ol' sincercity basket. FL and MR are sincere. The Delgados do not seem sincere. If Jonathan Donahue was singing All You Need is Hate or the Light Before We Land (the two tracks most like Mercury Rev), I would be putting them on a mix CD. And the bad part for the Delgados is that those are the two best tracks (except for the horribly named Child Killers which lyrics have nothing to do with the title). Pretty much this is my review. Not very technical, I can't really put my finger on it, but there's something about it that strikes me as off. Trying too hard to be critically acclaimed. I think that's it. There's nice stuff here. Maybe if I listen more, I'll appreciate the juxtoposition of baroque music and utterly depressing lyrics. But right now, the depressing lyrics just seem to be depressing to try and be cool. And that sucks.

Pulling a Camouflage, I'm ripping off your concept of intangibles, because it hit me as I was walking home today from work. As of now, would I put any one of the songs off this album on a mix CD? And the answer is, "No." Maybe I might send All You Need is Hate to someone as a joke. But, I can't see it making the cut against 20 other songs I might choose.

Overall grade: C- (that seems so low, but it just doesn't register. So, yes, a C-).