THE LOVE ME NOTS
DETROIT
ATOMIC A GO-GO
(click the album image to order from CDBABY)


In 1982, The Gun Club released their second album titled Miami. Legend has it that Jeffrey Lee Pierce had yet to visit The Magic City when the recording was in session. In fact, the album was recorded in New York with Blondie's Chris Stein producing. The title was inspired by Pierce's lifelong fascination with drug and crime culture in metropolitan America, with Miami, FL having a extremely high per-capita in the early 80s.

The only problem I have with the new album from The Love Me Nots is that I have yet to pick up on any similar inspiration. I don't need to dedicate another paragraph to Detroit's musical legacy to make this review work. Although I can hear hints of inspiration from 60s legends like Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels while fielding comparisons to many of Detroit's garage rock contemporaries, this album could just had well been titled Phoenix. The fashionable desert town quartet, however, have visited Detroit several times and may have chosen to call the city it's second home. Both their full lengths, Detroit and 2007's Black and White, were recorded in the motor city and produced by notable garage rock vintner Jim Diamond.

All thirteen of Detroit's songs are true to the original Love Me Nots formula with very few surprises. Riffs from guitarist Michael Johnny Walker come off heavy, thick, and full of reverb. Nicole Laurenne contributes frantic Farfisa and sly vocal melodies. One noticeable difference is that the Farfisa sounds a shade darker on this album, which compliments the album's seedier atmosphere when compared to the previous record. The addition of more backing vocals is also easily noticed and could very well solicit more crowd participation at upcoming Love Me Nots shows.

If I was to do the honor of renaming this album, I would name it Dive Bar for it's potential to serve as a soundtrack to any smoky lounge Saturdaynight.  The album has enough inneundos weaved into it's lyrics tokeep the sexual tension growing without anyone in the joint saying a word. With every listen my imagination grows deeper, acting out tales of thrift-shop-dressed, gin-soaked, beautiful losers trying to catch the eye of the wasted post-youth from across the bar. Everytime I hear Laurenne sing "I will wait in the darkest corner" in "Secret Pocket", I vision myself inside the back lounge of Tucson's Plush looking for her or wondering if she is really looking for me.

In "Love Letter" , Laurenne complains that she is checking her mailbox "15 times a day". The only mailbox that someone checks that many times is an email or myspace account, which proves both The Love Me Nots' connection to 21st century social behaviors and their ability to not get too wrapped up in their retro showcasing. The Love Me Nots were never a gimmicky band to begin with and could easily be experienced beyond their black & white matching threads of 2006-07. In fact, I found myself in the past acting as both a fan of their music and a critic of the local media hype which seemed to evaluate the band on shallow attributes. I think what could be the best thing about Detroit is it's ability to challenge these same critics to look deeper into the band's mystique and not limit their review to the band's obvious nod to 60s strip joint culture. Michael, Nicole, and the rest of the The Love Me Nots have proven that their inaugural album and showcases were not a fluke. The songwriting and showmanship of this band will live on for years, even if they dared to ever work with a different producer, modify their image, or experiment with more contemporary genres.

Visit ANTI-SNOB soon to hear new songs from the Love Me Nots on the ANTI-SNOB Radio playlist.

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