Pretend You're Alive

Lovedrug | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: July 27, 2004
• Label: The Militia Group
• Genres: Alternative Rock/Indie & Lo-Fi
• ASIN: B0015ZT8AW
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just "Pretend", September 18, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pretend You're Alive (Audio CD)

Indie-rock, pure'n'simple. That's what comes to mind when you listen to Lovedrug's solid debut, "Pretend You're Alive." They sound like the love child of Spiritualized and Sunny Day Real Estate, but they have a classic-sounding rock rhythm and some truly exceptional songs. This is a band to watch.

"Out of love for the hunt/out of love for the catch," Michael Shepard sings mournfully at the start of "In Red." It's not the most alluring start, but it is a pretty good one. And the mix of angular rock and lament continues, in a series of serious songs that dip into the topics of abuse of women, alcohol, hopelessness and angels. It finishes off on a quiet piano song with wistful lyrics, "Paper Scars."

Two years is pretty young to be a band, let alone a breakout one. But Lovedrug has plenty of talent, and a sort of steady, enjoyable sound that most bands don't achieve in their entire lifetimes. Most surprisingly, they establish a key "sound," while avoiding monotony by having the songs not sound TOO alike. What's more, it has the polished, experienced sound of a band much older than two years.

The core of each song is a powerful, layered melody: Sheperd's trembling guitars and quiet piano serve as a good counterpart to Adam Ladd's versatile bass. Woo, that bass -- listen to it roar, buzz, and roil. And the drumming is also quite good, although it tends to be buried under the guitars and bass -- it's there, but it blends in well. The cymbals are the easiest part to locate.

Sheperd has a high, flexible voice that always sounds heartbroken -- at the start of "Paper Stars," he even sounds kind of like a woman. But that perpetually sad sound works out well, especially since the tone of "Pretend You're Alive" is pretty dang melancholy. Brilliant, but melancholy. "If God was on the radio/I know he'd say to thee/love is spiders on the edge/and we're hanging by a thread," or "You don't know how cool you are/to find the ways to love me/without shame..."

Lovedrug make an auspicious full-length debut, and they leave you merely wondering where they'll go and what they'll do after "Pretend You're Alive." A powerful, melancholy debut, and one to check out.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unparallelled, December 22, 2004

By 

J. Bock "Promoter / Radio DJ" (Blacksburg, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pretend You're Alive (Audio CD)

I work at a venue that specializes in indie rock and the like, and we had the honor of hosting Lovedrug in November. It has been a long time since I've seen a band that put me in such awe of their work - and I see a lot of bands come through this area. Their album backs it up, too - standout tracks being "Down Towards the Healing", "The Monster", "Spiders", and basically anything in the first eight tracks. DO NOT MISS THEM LIVE.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars if you like sunny day real estate you'll like this, August 25, 2004

By 

spacedog "spacedog7" (boston, ma United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Pretend You're Alive (Audio CD)

although at least three of these songs have already been released on EPs, the album was still satisfying. lovedrug is probably going to be most often compared to sunny day, esp. with the high-pitched vocals, but in my opinion they're definitely better. more melodic, more variety in the song structures, and overall a catchier sound with more hooks. some of the piano-based tracks are a little dull and the lyrics tend to be indulgent, but there are more than a few standout and definitely rockin' tracks, such as: in red, blackout, rocknroll, and candy. lookin' forward to the next one.