The Loved Ones’ debut 2005 EP might be the best example of how music can be decent without being interesting. It’s the mean, in spectrum of albums. It’s not really noteworthy, but it’s not bad. It’s square in the middle.
The Loved Ones (EP) is generic punk and is sonically in the vein of an MxPx and Autopilot Off (though not nearly as good as anything those bands have done. Songs like “Candy Cane,” “100K,” and “Chicken” feature fairly simple instrumentals and lyrical themes that have been worn thin long ago. For example, it’d be a stretch to say “100K”‘s refrain of, “Burn the house down and break the spell,” hasn’t been said other ways hundreds of times by punk bands before.
“Massive” is an interesting track only because it sound EXACTLY like Hot Water Music. (To the point you may double check to see if you dozed off and are suddenly woke up listening to A Flight And A Crash.) It’s borderline dumbfounding. The bass, guitars, and drums are a carbon copy of a HWM tune and frontman Dave Hause channels Chuck Ragan perfectly. It’s no surprise then that “Massive” is the best track on the EP.
On the other hand, there’s “Drastic.” It’s an acoustic number that just falls flat. The main reason is that the vocal and lyrical rhythm don’t match the other music’s rhythm at all. The track is just off and is never able to right itself.
While it may seem all these comments are negative, that’s really not the case. Other than “Drastic,” everything is well done, it’s just doesn’t really grasp the listener at all. But hey, there will always a place for Wonder Bread blandness.
Review Score: 5.0
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