Lovvers - OCD Go Go Go Girls

Without the veil of atmosphere and showmanship which marks Lovvers gigs as raucous, electric events, they have lost their greatest asset and on their album ‘OCD Go Go Go Girls’ they are a significantly diminished prospect.   

Lovvers have produced a record true to their relentless and almost principled Lo-Fi ethic, yet despite their undoubtedly punk charm, I find the whole thing a little exhausting.  From song to song the vocals sound like they are being beaten through a dying speaker, struggling to produce a strangled fuzz just about resembling a voice.  After a couple of tracks it becomes apparent that this continuous and monotonal noise, which to be frank is essentially droning, isn’t going to offer up anything different.  I can’t help but think that listening to these vocals throughout the album isn’t too dissimilar from sitting in a room for 25 minutes, accompanied by the murmur of arguing neighbours and the subtle sound of feedback - not only is it tedious, but you’ll probably get a bit of a headache trying to work out what’s being said.   

Their uncompromising Lo-Fi approach inevitably doesn’t make the album particularly accessible, which no-doubt some will commend, but I wonder where the line is between showing artistic integrity and shooting yourself in the foot.  Largely due to its production, listening to ‘OCD Go Go Go Girls’ feels like hard work and I fail to see what exactly is their point in taking their sound quite this far.  Lovvers are notable for some great guitar riffs, which I would say are their saving grace, but they risk being lost in a swamp of scuzzy noise.  The riffs are modest and simple, yet far from dumb, Lovvers clearly nodding to their punk heritage.  This is most impressively evident when listening to ‘Four Count’ and ‘Ad Lib’, which both kick start with intros you would have difficulty to beat - however for reasons you can guess from the above, this promise is wasted.

An exception to my unfavourable regard for this album is token ‘slow’ song ‘Golden Bars Blue’.  My perceptions formed by the preceding six tracks are undone and I find myself even beginning to appreciate Lovvers.  For a moment it becomes clear that unlike most singer fronted, vocal led bands, Lovvers are an ensemble led by excellent guitar, the vocals are secondary, an accompaniment supposed to compliment and not drive the band.  For the 2 minutes 6 Seconds of this song it all seems so very clear, but then it’s over and the album bleeds into the next track, leaving me doubting my moment of lucidity and speculating as to whether I was kidding myself, clutching at straws in an attempt to ‘get’ this band.  Or perhaps, as I’m more inclined to think, this is just one good song on a disappointing album.