This is the first full-length release from Divide by Zero, a Chicago band whose core members emerged from the wreckage of Logan's Loss and re-formed with lineup changes and a somewhat different (but still recognizably Chicagoan) sound. That sound is definitely the band's primary selling point: if what you want is tightly constructed, disciplined, and crunchily attractive guitar rock, aggressive without being violent and nimble without being in any way lightweight, then Divide by Zero is the band for you. Singer T.J. Milici is a talented shouter who can carry a melody while still conveying plenty of raw, bulldozing emotion, and the tunes are all recognizable and nicely put together. So why isn't this album more exciting? Maybe the problem is that the tunes themselves come across as more competent than gripping. "Hold On" and the elegantly constructed "Guillotine" will make you sit up and take notice, but too much of the rest of the album rushes by with a kind of undifferentiated roar -- not an unpleasant roar, but not a memorable one either. One of the album's best tracks is also one of its most strangely unsettling: during a bitter post-breakup rant called "Northern Lights," Milici constantly invokes the name "Lauren" in a way that makes the song feel uncomfortably voyeuristic (in a way that Lauren probably doesn't appreciate much, either). The album-closing "Accept Ourselves," on the other hand, is trite and overwrought. Divide by Zero has serious potential, but isn't quite there yet -- which is probably what should be expected on a debut album.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo