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I'm familiar in name only with the previously-separate careers of this duo, Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti (a.k.a. Jack Drag), who both did time in the Boston indie rock scene before relocating together to L.A. As the Submarines, this is their first release together. There's apparently a bit of soap opera with an on-off-on personal relationship between the two, which you don't have to look too hard for in the breakup-and-reconciliation themes of the lyrics. As you might expect from a couple of Los Angeles-based veteran pop songwriters, this is a lushly-produced collection of sophisticated alterna-pop—fortunately there are a few rough edges, moments of playfulness, and touches of late-60s style pop psychedelia to keep things from being too adult-contemporary. It took a few listens to get beyond the relatively slick surface and get to the charms and depth of this album, but they are there to be found. The emotional content of these songs seems pretty genuine and could imaginably be quite affecting depending on the listener's personal relationship situation. It's not exactly a heart-wrenching masterpiece, but it's a winsome effort. (The illustrations on the disc packaging are quite delightful as well.) (mike.07.06)
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