Loveninjas : The Secret Of The Loveninjas

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/loveninjas.jpg" alt=" " />As their tongue-in-cheek name my suggest, Loveninjas are a light-hearted group of balladeers that combine playful and somewhat comedic lyrics with straight-forward, Britpopesque rhythms.  They...
7.0 Labrador
2006 

 As their tongue-in-cheek name my suggest, Loveninjas are a light-hearted group of balladeers that combine playful and somewhat comedic lyrics with straight-forward, Britpopesque rhythms.  They claim to be "four or five Swedish boys" that roll pop, disco, and prog together in an electronic-laced casing like an eggroll being dipped into some spicy-but-sugary sauce.    Each track on The Secret Of The Loveninjas is tightly played and produced, each single-worthy in their own ways, like they could easily fill a whole block on a modern indie pop radio station.  Loveninjas are yet another charmer Swedish label Labrador’s lineup that specialize in airy, danceable rock. 

Perhaps the most noticeable characteristic of the band is their tendency to use ear-catching titles, such as "Do Me", "Little Black Friends", "She Broke His Penis In Two".  Though these might stick out as bizarre or edgy, the songs are actually pretty genial, and function somewhat like a trouble-making little boy.  "Little Black Friends" actually refers to monsters under a little boy’s bed that go "on adventures in the night" – remniscient of child’s night-time fantasy story.  "…Penis…" is a Bananarama-esque tale of a girl teaching some guy a tough lesson in respect.  How could you not listen to a song with a name like that?

There are some moments of high quality catchiness on the album, like the opening track "I Wanna Be Like Johnny C", with a bass drum beat driving fast, light guitars and desperate vocals in a soaring ’80s runner.  The final track, the most serious and involved, "My Lust Is Dead", has a tripped beat and heavily fuzzed effects in a quick tempo that wraps up all of the silliness of the album into a focus point and proves they can be more than just sarcastic or joking.  

Throughout The Secret Of The Loveninjas, the band offers up poptastic melodies and lyrics that are clear and memorable enough to stick with you whether you want them to or not.  Loveninjas can mix up their tempos and atmospheres enough to make a solidly angular album instead of sticking with one theme or the other.  They show they can be lovers as well as ninjas – even both at the same time.  

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