I Love Monsters reached out to us for a review back in February (to which I obliged), so you can imagine my surprise when I witnessed the band play a jingle in a freecreditscore.com commercial during the MLB All-Star Game several months later. They apparently won some sort of competition that landed them the big spot; in that context, playing a pandering jingle that I believe was pre-written by the company, their frontman's singing voice was admittedly grating. But when the band are free to pen their own material, the results are not only more tolerable, but outright enjoyable.

Spine and Satellites/Stop Pretending are digital singles the band issued earlier this year for free download, and are definitely good little ditties. While their singer does lean on the cutesy side, overall this is a poppier, sort of arena-friendly mix of the Weakerthans, Gods Reflex and some sort of newer-school emo-pop influence in the mix. "Spine" and "Stop Pretending" are carefree, emo-ish indie pop jams, but "Satellites" is the highlight of these three; there's more restraint and sparkle, it's less playful, and the shimmering chorus is big, smooth and memorable. The potential in that particular song is pretty astounding.

There's some genuinely well-crafted songwriting bits among these three songs, and it proves I Love Monsters should need no sort of gimmickry to make their mark in the future.

DOWNLOAD/STREAM
Spine
Satellites
Stop Pretending