Zoodrive: Not Fully Medicated

Zoodrive
Not Fully Medicated
Zip
2006-09

Zoodrive makes rock music, and Not Fully Medicated is an EP full of rock songs. Need more specifics than that? Okay, they make slightly punk-influenced rock music with a touch of indie styling and a disturbing predilection for balladry. And if Not Fully Medicated is any indication, they’re not very good at it, yet, either. At first, it’s the sort of independent rock album you want to root for, spunky and energetic if not exactly memorable, exuding a certain charm that masks its musical deficiencies. And yet, by the time the bloated, overblown (this at only five-and-a-half minutes), and terribly clichéd final track (a little something called “Start My Motor”) kicks in, the charm is gone. Did a random female vocalist really just show up to quote the Barney “I Love You” song? Does that chorus really say “Only you can start my motor” over and over again? Were those fake synthed-out descending violin lines really necessary? That final track puts into the spotlight just how far this band has to go before it actually creates something worth listening to — Not Fully Medicated could easily have been retitled “Not Fully Cooked”.

RATING 3 / 10