No surprise Lovedrug sound tougher than they did a few years ago. Despite several records filled with piano-anchored alt-rock, the Canton band never quite took off beyond its core audience. Wild Blood is a stab for mainstream acceptance: U2 and their stylistic followers are major influences on the album's reverb-soaked riffs, soaring choruses, and atmospheric verses. The album establishes Lovedrug as a solid adult-contemporary rock band, with a mature and emotionally resonant disposition (check out the triumphant and moody "Great Divide" and the moving "Ladders"). But the manicured production, monotonous textures, and plodding arrangements of songs like "Premonition" and "Your Country" also make Wild Blood disappointingly generic. — Annie Zaleski
