Morningwood

Sugarbaby (Capitol)

By Lou Battaglia
Published: August 17th, 2008 | 9:00am

Undoubtedly, if I were a 15-year-old female growing up in the American suburbs during this era of The Hills, Gossip Girl, and the Pussycat Dolls, Morningwood would be one of my favorite bands. These New Yorkers have a brand of power pop that's brash, cheeky, and fun, and their new EP, Sugarbaby, is tailor-made for indie girls in the making. Lead singer Chantal Claret perfectly personifies an alternative female archetype; more in line with Shirley Manson or Liz Phair, she defiantly flies in the face of everything that the aforementioned garbage tries like hell to instill into the minds of young females.

That being said, none of the songs on Sugarbaby are going to contend for Record of the Year. The songs are ultimately thin on substance, and heavy on snappy, ubiquitous lyrics that speak to the horrors of homeroom. While the group postures as a gritty and rough rocknroll band, their over-produced sound is slick and somewhat contrived. While it stands up rather well to a lot of the horrible pop music that has flooded the airwaves in recent memory, Morningwood is in the same vein as Avril Lavigne’s punk posturing and Ashlee Simpson wearing a Ramones shirt. Yet, before righteous know-it-alls like myself denounce Morningwood for clearly being marketed to exploit the niche market of teenage girls who don’t want to be cheerleaders or prom queens, I would do well to remember a few friends that I had in high school who would have killed to have a band like Morningwood to listen to at that age.

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