seven

The two members of The Doom Patrol, Theo and David Eden, are first and foremost a good pair of songwriters. Their knack for creating dark pop music, with an emphasis placed on the clean, melodic vocals, precedes the actual means with which they create it. The drum machines are very basic and repetitive, the programming is equally simple, and the subtle guitars follow suit -- but none of this really interferes with a well written song.

The essence of The Doom Patrol seems to rise and set on the back of the vocals. "Belief" features one of the most simple, pre-programmed beats imaginable, with light, twinkling synth work and floating tones looped over top. But the vocals -- soft, high-pitched and gently delivered -- somehow legitimize everything. They give it all a heart and allow you to forget about how much better the music underneath could be.

It should be pointed out, however, that the music isn't a constant weak spot. With the opening track, "Where," for example, a flowing, laid back mix of bass guitar, faint, sitar tinged synth and mellow percussion props up the vocals to its full potential. No one element ever jumps out at you with this disc, and as a whole it's fairly passive music, but the subtle hooks work well to give it a mildly endearing quality. Give The Doom Patrol a chance for their programming and instrumentation to catch up with their strong song writing abilities and it will make for a far more effective project.