Review Summary: It's good...for a debut...i guess...it's not too bad.
Where to start with Ludo’s debut album? This is an excellent question. This album is a strong freshman effort by this St. Louis pop-punk group but unfortunately it does come up short in a lot of areas. These shortcomings are made more noticeable by Ludo’s more recent work which is, to be honest, an astronomical improvement over this record but all in all and all factors taken into account; this album is not a terrible piece of work.
I’m a fan of airing the grievances at the beginning so that the review can end on a positive note. So for starters, while this album is a good effort from Ludo, it is very clear that it is a debut album by a young band. It has a very immature tone at times and often comes off as sappy and cliché. In particular, Good Will Hunting By Myself, is a pretty run of the mill break-up song about harboring feelings and then unleashing them in a fury of sweet, adolescent revenge. The song is catchy but it reeks of corny break-up sentiment with a hint of teenage angst, and not the good kind. The song is good for a laugh, as it does build to a rather funny final verse but it is by no means a highlight of the album. Another problem that the album runs into is the fact that some of the songs drag. Laundry Girl and Air-Conditioned Love are both quality tracks but they are much too long to fit in with the attention span of this album. I could go on with issues that this album has but I would rather get on with the positive aspects of this record. I am, in no way, trying to discourage anybody from listening to this album. Ludo is a great band and this album is worth a listen but honesty is important.
Now that the issues have been hashed out and put forth, its time that this album got some of the respect it deserves. The opening tracks of this album are some of the highest points. Saturday Night Thunderbolt is one of the better songs on the album and Hum Along is easily the best song on the album and one of the better songs that Ludo has created with their interestingly fashioned minds. The second track, Roxy, however, is one of the weaker songs on the album and is unjustly crammed in between two of the best songs on this record. The other two tracks that cannot be ignored are Hello, My Name Is Your TV and Girls On Trampolines. Hello, My Name Is Your TV is a creative and interesting look at the imperfections of the world around us and how these imperfections are ignored by Hollywood and trivialized by the media. It shows how life is certainly not perfect but that’s what makes it interesting. This track is a demonstration of Ludo at their best and it can contend with Hum Along for the top song on this album. The other highlight of the record, Girls On Trampolines, comes as the last track and comes in the form of a funny, immature, party-oriented jam. In this case, when I say immature, I mean it in a good way. This track is meant to be humorous and it brings bands such as blink-182 and Fall Out Boy to mind as it reminds listeners that these guys are in fact a pop-punk band.
At the end of the day, this album is pretty good. It’s not great or superb but it would be unfair to write it off as a terrible piece of work. It’s a little above average and there are a few gems to be found amongst the clutter. It is definitely worth a listen even though it does not do Ludo the proper justice that they deserve.
Recommended Tracks: Hum Along, Saturday Night Thunderbolt, Hello, My Name Is Your TV, Girls On Trampolines
