Sugartooth debut CD doesn't sound sweet

Los Angeles band Sugartooth offers little in the way of imagination on their self-titled debut effort.

Only 5 out of the 13 tracks on "Sugartooth" are inviting. Each song has the same drone, with no change in vocal range.

Songs like "Cracks In The Pavement" and "In Need" offer catchy melodies to make up for the blasˇ vocal performance of singer Marc Hutner.

Hutner goes from song to song without any variance in emotion or tone. If it wasn't for the difference in melodies, you'd think that you were hearing just one big song from Sugartooth.

The majority of the songs are over 4 minutes long, which makes listening tiresome and that is what creates the problem for the band. "Black Queen," for instance, is a mixture of unimpressive vocals, guitar licks and irrational drumming.

The lyrics are filled with anger about how screwed up the world is. The band expresses this attitude with Hutner's raw vocals screaming into the mike with an intensity that will blow speakers but without any pleasing effect on the ear.

It seems like they just couldn't blend together, and they put out material without any thought for listener appeal.

If Sugartooth used their five best songs and just put out an EP, it would have been a hit. Maybe they will learn from the mistakes they made on this rookie effort and create something better next time.