the Loved Ones – “Build and Burn” review

The Loved Ones – “Build and Burn”
(Fat Wreck Chords)

The Loved One’s second full-length, Build and Burn, isn’t as good as their debut full-length, Keep Your Heart, which wasn’t as good as their self-titled debut EP. Each recording the band has done turns further away from the energetic pop-punk-rock that made me think they had some sort of future. “100K” was the sort of song that made me think that punk rock might still have a future – members of Paint It Black and Kid Dynamite getting together? Hell, yes.

However, it seems like punk rock seems to be making this turnaround into pub rock, which is pretty much proven by the inclusion of the Hold Steady’s Franz Nicolay and Tad Kubler and instrumentation like harmonica and Hammond B-3.

It’s not bombastic or energetic. The Loved Ones’ Build and Burn is just a basic rock album without anything to distinguish itself. When you start adding Bruce Springsteen instrumentation, you get closer to Springsteen songs – in other words, stuff that sounds closer to bombastic musical theatre than actual rock ‘n’ roll. Meat Loaf syndrome, I call it. It’s not like they’re one saxophone away from “Paradise By the Dashboard Lights,” but it’s a slippery slope.

The Bridge
Sarah’s Game