Grade: C+ | Genre: Indie Pop
Summary: Lab Partners aren't a bad band; they just need to grow past this early stage a bit. They've found rich soil to grow in. Now they need their own special bloom to show off.

Lab Partners aka Michael and Amy Smith, Michael Volk and Todd Carll obviously listen to a lot of Jesus and Mary Chain when they aren't pretending to be them. Since "The Chain" dropped out of site after the much underrated Munki LP, there has a been a gaping hole once occupied by the shoegazing bedheads, Jim and William Reid. Well, that vacuum seems to have been opted by Lab Partners on their debut for Reverb Records, Wicked Branches.

Sounding like more of a tribute than an original release, Wicked Branches occasionally emerges from beneath the obvious influences to reveal the groups own take on all things mopey. Unfortunately, they are few and far between. In the interim they treat listeners to songs that sound left over from Stoned and Dethroned.