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.

Alternating rocky and raw cuts like "Ride" (gee, I wonder what that refers to) and the title track with drone-fests like "It's How You Feel" and "This Life," these Lab Partners concoct a brew familiar to anyone who has listened to Ultra Vivid Scene, My Bloody Valentine or The JAMC.

One would be better off playing "Darklands" or "Loveless," a pair of morose masterpieces by a couple bands in the vanguard of a movement whose heyday was nearly two decades ago. This is not to say that any genre, whether it's Goth or Glamrock, cannot come back into vogue. It can, but it should be improved upon, updated, reinvented even. To merely rehash great music until it sounds sub-par is an exercise in banality.

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Michael Smith's vocals, which sound like a stoned Stiv Bators, tow the line. With help from the rest of the band, who all claim vocal credits, this crucial portion of Lab Partner's controlled dissonance should be more characteristic than it is.

The real power of Smith and company lies in the musicianship; a rock rawness that comes across in it's more pared down moments. Overall the sound tends to lull you into a state of relaxed detachment. It is when the band gets revved up, when they seem to let loose and tear at their instruments, that Lab Partners start to cook.

"Blood Moon," the first song proper, begins like Pearl Jam of all things with bashing guitars and drums. Then the vocals proceed to rescue the tune from that fate, managing to eventually create its own groove. One thing is evident from the onset, these guys must put on a great live show. It's a solid opener that reveals more of itself with repeated listening.

Harder-edged than their label mates The High Violets, Lab Partners flesh out a darker groove for the burgeoning Reverb Records. "Now," has melody and depth, but there is a hint of brutality to the heavy execution. They like to rock independent style when the mood takes them. When the mood changes, it's usually downbeat and reminiscent of the sleepier side of Primal Scream and other such waste-oids. Not bad for Dayton, Ohio.

The Lab Partners have made their rock and roll bed and will have to lie in it. We know where they are coming from, that's obvious to anyone with a lot of records in their house. Let's hope they get to where they are going because there is plenty of sonic ability here. I know if I was producing, I would want to hear them get harder and louder than they already are. Many times making new music is about pushing things to the next level. These partners could very well do that. Give them time and see what they concoct.

Release Date: July 19, 2005