Morningwood's new self-titled album looked promising. In the CD's early promotional stages the track "Jetsetter" hit the airwaves, providing a shred of hope that Morningwood's latest wouldn't be all that bad. Sadly, with the album's release, hope of a quality endeavor is dwindling. Take the album cover, which gives all the signs of a band trying way too hard. Flashy lights, argyle sweater-vests and a female singer who's so over the scene? Oh, how the originality oozes.
The first track fails to wow listeners out of any existing doubtful state. Though it opens up with momentum, "Nü Rock" quickly dies with tired power chords that are reminiscent of junior-high punk rock bands and a mish-mash of heavily worn lyrics. The lead vocalist, Chantal Claret, sings, "All the little kids who love to rock ‘n roll / You sure got the style but you ain't got no soul," which is laughable, considering that the band has one of the most put-together images out there. Claret continues, "1 — 2 — 3 / Come on let's go / It's a rock and roll revolution". Really? A rock and roll revolution? Could have fooled me.
The next track, "Televisor", might be trying to say something, but it's hard to say what. Again, the song is lyrically weak, and the riffs are so similar to track one that the songs blur together.
Things begin to look up with the album's third song, "Nth Degree." The song is poppy with a candy melody that is danceable, making it sufficient partying material. With a closer listen though, the track quickly becomes annoying as its vocalist incessantly repeats the spelling of the band's name, singing its own praises. This being Morningwood's first album, it's a bit too soon for the band to start singing about how great and quirky they are after two unimpressive tracks. The song is catchy, though, and getting it out of one's head is a process that takes days.
"Jetsetter" is a good track, but not a redeeming one. It is lyrically more powerful than other featured tracks and is sung with a convincingly gritty edge. The band also introduces a kind of tech-oriented sound with a synthesized drum break that adds some punch to the song.
Not too surprisingly, the track "Take Off Your Clothes," plays like a porno dialogue set to new wave grunge. That may sound cool, but is in reality far from it. The vocalist's moaning and attempts at being sexy get very old, very quickly. This song makes listeners want to yell back, "Please Chantal, I don't want to rip off your clothes, I just want to stop listening to your CD."
After some obligatory filler, the album rolls to "New York Girls." With this song, the band seems to be trying to pull of a Strokes-style hipness and fails terribly. Morningwood (or whoever their marketing team is) makes the assumption that just because the band sings about how great it is to be from New York, New Yorkers will in turn rock to it and cause a ripple effect, making "New York Girls" the next big hit. The song is certainly not good enough for this phenomenon, leaving the song better left on the East Coast.
Morningwood's debut album goes out the way it came in — weakly. The CD frames a perfect picture of a band that has drastically missed the point. Claret should listen to her own advice and lead the band in the direction of some "soul," or at least some musical substance. A weak album from a weak band has little saving grace — and it should be noted that picking a band name that doesn't make eighth-grade boys giggle might also be a good way to go if you're looking to be taken seriously.
Rating: 1 star
