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Ludo You’re Awful, I Love You Rating: 4/5 |
Ludo isn’t for everyone but, like chunky peanut butter, if you have a hankering for some, there is no substitute.
Ludo is a locally-based band that has recently made it big: the Warped Tour, a Christmas show at the Pageant and a deal with Island Records. That hasn’t seemed to affect the band all that much. They’re still cranking out the same angsty, lyric-driven power pop. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
The newest addition to the Ludo catalog is their third full-length album, “You’re Awful, I Love You.” It’s full of songs about relationships, more specifically the kind of relationships that are wholly destructive but never seem to end. The album’s title really says it all, but the first song, “Love Me Dead” really drives home the point. “You suck so passionately/You’re a parasitic, psycho, filthy creature/ finger-bangin’ my heart/ You call me up drunk/ Does the fun ever start?/ You’re hideous and sexy!” Granted this is from the minds that brought you a rock opera featuring pterodactyls, angels and the apocalypse, so it’s hardly shocking.
Ludo does an excellent job of bringing the various styles they employ together nicely. “Drunken Lament” has throwbacks to their sophomore release “Broken Bride” with powerful guitar riffs and Andrew Volpe using his actual singing voice, as opposed to the tonally-complex, melodic speaking he usually employs for the more humorous songs.
Don’t fear, that biting humor is definitely still present on the record. “Go-Getter Greg” tells the story of Greg who is, to put it kindly, overly enthusiastic about both himself and his new neighbor. To put it more realistically, Greg likely has, or needs, at least one restraining order.
Unfortunately, one of the main highlights of Ludo is lost on the record: the pure energy Andrew Volpe brings to the songs he sings. Volpe’s facial expressions and inflections really drive home the songs, adding another layer that you don’t find in many bands. Maybe it helps that Ludo avoids trite love stories in favor of psychopathic romance.
“The Horror of Our Love” is, on a cursory listen, nothing but a power ballad about an unrequited love. Listen more closely, and the words, “Moonlight walking/ I smell you softness/.Hold you down and tear you open/ Live inside you” take on a more threatening meaning. This isn’t to say that Ludo doesn’t know what it is to write a pure love song: “Morning in May” proved otherwise. “Please” is a simple song about lost love with a complex orchestral backing. “Please save this for me/ I’ll come back for you, love, I promise to/.My love will burn and my heart will stay.”
Granted, it all can, at times, be more theatrical than some can bear. Volpe’s voice lends perfection to some songs but can easily start grating. It’s reasonable to say that Ludo will not be everyone’s cup of tea. This is more for listening to when your roommates are off seeing all the Oscar winners than it is good party music.
Interested in seeing Ludo live? Handy. They will be performing an acoustic in store at Vintage Vinyl this Tuesday at 8 p.m. Not good enough? March 2 finds Ludo at the Pageant for their CD Release Party.