The Beloved
try hard -- way too hard -- to mimic their idols from Manchester, England, on
Where It Is
. The group's role models aren't difficult to guess; after all, they spend much of the time on
using
New Order
's
"Dreams Never End"
as a blueprint. The opening track,
"A Hundred Words,"
gives it away: a sinister bassline and icy vocals propel a cold, mechanical beat. However, at least
"A Hundred Words"
has hooks; the rest of
suffers from the same problem that plagues most imitators of
and their earlier incarnation,
Joy Division
-- plenty of atmosphere but no memorable songs. The
guitar drone and
Jon Marsh
's depressed singing on
"Slow Drowning"
can't sustain interest. The band borrows
the Cure
Pornography
-era funereal percussion on
and
"In Trouble and Shame"
and fails at making an emotional impact.
Marsh
even sounds somewhat like
Nick Cave
on
; however, he's nowhere near as disturbing. It's easy to compare
the Beloved
to other artists because their influences are so obvious. Ironically, one group
isn't reminiscent of is
. By their second full-length, the vastly superior
Happiness
,
had shed the
gothic
gloss for pure
pop
.
should be viewed as an awkward first step; the band got much better after it. ~ Michael Sutton