Review: Baby Teardrops “X Is For Love”

Indie rock
Baby Teardrops is an indie pop rock band that calls Brooklyn, New York home. Matthew Dunehoo (vocals, guitar) is the leader of this trio, which touts that they “deliver edgy hypnotic elements and recurrent mantras, rooted with the fundamental belief of loving what was originally created and driving their songs around solid riffs.” Megan Thomas (bass, backing vocals, piano) and Gerry White (drums) round out the sound.

“X Is For Love” begins with “ME Where”, a brief introduction clocking just under 2 minutes. It’s enough time to acquaint us with the band’s sound, which has four main characteristics: grungy guitar, thundering drums, sweet male-female harmonies between Dunehoo and Thomas, and the tendency to repeat the same line over and over again. A proper song, “Smooth Sailing Ahead” comes next and stands out as the key track for me where the band maximizes its potential. “I Don’t Wanna Go Home” and “Still Singing The Same Songs” press on the nerves a bit too much with lyrical repetition, but their hooks are decent. Unfortunately, much of the CD suffers from nondescript tracks that make it evident that Dunehoo just doesn’t have a voice capable of holding your attention. Things are improved when Thomas contributes her backing vocal, and I can’t help but think that maybe their roles should be reversed – she should front the band with Dunehoo supplying backing vocals. The band also needs to realize that just repeating the same phrase doesn’t make your song memorable – it makes them irritating (“Lucky 7” possibly being the worst offender).

“X Is For Love” will be available on April 12. Check them out if you like Marcy Playground, The Shins, or The New Pornographers.

iPOD-worthy: 2, 3, 6

Baby Teardrops on MySpace. Official site.

Listen to “Smooth Sailing Ahead”