Montreal's The Dears virtually came out of nowhere in 2004 receiving high praise for their lush and string-heavy baroque style record No Cities Left. Almost as much attention was paid to the fact that the band's lead singer, Murray Lightburn, was a black Indie-Rock singer that was heavily indebted to The Smiths. Lightburn has been hailed "the black Morrissey" in some Rock circles (although Blacksmith is a better play on words) honestly it's not hard to see why while listening to his vocal delivery or just looking at certain song titles ("You And I Are A Gang Of Losers" just has that pretentious Morrissey ring to it).

Gang of Losers is No Cities Left's quick follow-up and it couldn't sound more different. I wish I could say it was different in a good way, but to me it sounds like an album from a band that has labored too hard to not make the same album twice. Still, hints of brilliance abound, the very strong opener "Ticket To Immortality" and the David Bowie influenced "Hate Then Love" are but a few. Most of Gang of Losers however feels unfocused, messy and more than a tad contrived. It's like they were out to prove they could create a solid Rock album, yet forgot that no one ever mistook The Smiths for a rockin' band.

When they do try at times here to strike that bad-ass Rocker pose, it comes off as nothing more than a half-rate Blur sounding knock off. Gang of Losers is a valiant effort to be sure, but I hope that this album serves as a reminder that for future Dears projects, Lightburn and company should stick a little more to the formula that brought them to the spotlight in the first place.