Voodoo Blue – Smile and Nod

Baltimore’s Voodoo Blue has a hook-laden sound that is ready-set to draw listeners in. Unfortunately, their sound is about five years too late. Their debut release, Smile and Nod, is punky pop rock with a tendency towards lyrical cliches.

It’s not that Voodoo Blue is bad. It’s just that the band could use a musical wake up call. Songs about getting signed / the record business like “Enter to Win” have been done to death over the years, and done better (see Boston‘s “Rock and Roll Band” and Reel Big Fish‘s “Sell Out”). There are also four songs that could justifiable called ballads, and they seem to crop up every time Smile and Nod starts to gain some momentum.

The best tracks sounds like the more straight-ahead rockers off Zebrahead‘s last album. “Bobby Know-It-All” is a pogo-worthy number that could’ve blown up the airwaves in the days of “alt-rock” radio. “Too Old to Cry” is my guess for hitting the teeny bopper crowd. It’s catchy, the chorus is ready-made for audience sing alongs, and isn’t too poppy to be uncool or too heavy to turn off your folks. Still, even at their best, Voodoo Blue is disposable and nothing that’ll play on your mental jukebox past the next song in WinAmp.

DCide Records should hold onto Voodoo Blue and hope these guys mature. If they can hit the right tour (say, Story of the Year), they’ve got the potential to catch on with the kids. They’ve got talent, and if they can manage to move on to something a little less simplistic and disposable, they might be able to hold onto those kids for longer than a few months.

Take a listen over at MySpace or Pure Volume.