Wow! Who is this band and where did they come from?! Knowing nothing about this hip and much hyped new band, I picked up their debut self-titled album.

First of all, for a brand new artist, The Cure seem very mature. The vocals are very boyish and warbling -- the singer seems to take a few pointers from Conor Oberst. They certainly have the whole teen angst thing down -- probably looking up to all those new emo bands out these days. On some tracks, The Cure explode out with an intense, even romantic, passion -- I suppose they list Thursday and Cursive as influences. The lyrics focus almost entirely on love and love lost (as if these kids, most likely in their early twenties, have had enough time for all that romance).

Some of the songs on this new band's new album are very good, however, many are simply mediocre. The album begins with the haunting slow-boil march "Lost", probably the best song on the album after a few spins. However, the next song is very, very average (but let's give them some credit, they are new on the block). Unfortunately, the whole album seems to be this way; it's divided between the very good songs and the very boring songs. The good does outweigh the bad, but not by much.

At some times while listening to this album I would say to myself "Wow, these guys could have been around in the 80's because a bunch of these songs have that sound to them". On songs like "Taking Off" they bust out the synthesizers -- maybe they are Reggie or Minus the Bear fans. While the opening track is very good and very dark in tone, the better songs on the album are the more lighthearted ones. The Cure don't make love loss very artistic or intersting as evidenced in such songs as "Anniversary", "Never", and especially the trite and dragging ten-minute snoozefest "The Promise". Boring and uninspired moments can many times be expected from a young band like The Cure, but what makes them something special is when they are on. Swirling anthems like "Before Three", "The End of The World", and the winner of the needless parenthasees award, "(I Don't Know What's Going) On" are excellent love filled odes. Save "Lost", The Cure are at their best when they are in love, not when they've fallen out of it.

Overall an excellent debut from a very unknown band. These guys are young, so I would expect a lot of them in the future, they know how to write a good song. So check out this band before they disintegrate.