Drumlin: Paper Flowers

Drumlin is an inoffensive family outfit playing a gentle, Sixpence-None-the-Richer-style of soft pop that is as forgettable as it is innocuous. Opener “Louie” summons up a bit of verve, with Anya Gilbert’s (or is it Kassia Gilbert’s?) vocals tripping over a rolling, acoustic rhythm, but things get dumb fast, with truly execrable lyrics popping up in “Cries” (a social protest song of the most ham-fisted type) and “Try for Me”.”It’s hard sometimes to let it go, just take it slow, I know I know I know.” Those are actual words that someone sings on this record, no kidding. If the unremittingly lazy lyrics don’t get you writhing, the dipped-in-treacle delivery should do the trick. That said, there’s a fair bit of musical life in the Celtic-inflected “My Dearie” and the standard “Annabel Lee,” but it’s all undermined by the eye-watering vocals in “Paper Flowers” and “Little Things.” As a group, Drumlin possesses a cohesive tightness and a fairly astute sense of pop song-craft–but guys, please, find yourselves a lyricist.