Lovedrug

Everything Starts Where It Ends

(Militia Group)

Record Review by Alexis Roberts

Sometimes you have to learn the hard way that being on a major label isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You’d think any musician working up from the ground might understand that, especially after seeing the toll that it has taken upon so many artists previously. After a short stint on Columbia, Lovedrug managed to escape their contract before releasing an album with them, and returned to their happy home at the Militia Group to release this full length album, appropriately titled Everything Starts Where it Ends. Coincidence? I think not.

So now they are in fact starting back where they ended and having a more substantial amount of creative control has proven to be a great thing for the drug. I find that this new album is quite theatrical and flamboyant in all of its glory, but not so over the damn top that it makes you sick. Michael Shepard’s voice certainly is… unique, and probably an acquired taste. If we lowered the voice of The Blood Brothers by an octave and gave them a handful of downers and a piano, we’d get Lovedrug—and that’s good.  There are some fantastic songs that will more than likely be seen on Fuse at an earthly hour. However, it’s very obvious which songs are the best, thusly exposing the others as filler. When you write a song like “Salt of the Earth” that happens to be a really wonderful piece of music you will always have the constant struggle to match that same level of quality. Everything about that song is dead on, from Shepard’s singing right down to the production. Producer Tim Patalan really did Lovedrug justice on this album, letting their sound speak for itself and enhancing the album in subtle ways that complement the band’s natural ability.

Lovedrug is set to be doing a National tour this spring beginning March 12th in Colorado, and ending in Illinois on May 2nd. They will be hitting up all of the major cities, so there are a lot of opportunities to see them while they are out on the road. I am wishing Lovedrug lots of success on their tour and with this album release so that they can dethrone Hawthorne Heights as the kings of the Ohio music scene… shouldn’t be too hard, guys. DO IT!