Lazarazu

Lazarazu don’t strive to break any new ground genre-wise with their debut CD Floodlit — a collection of ten pretty but ultimately disposable fluffy gothic pop tracks. Lyrically we revisit the much mused upon topics of love, death and a bleak emotion darkness. The Canadian quintet, which includes former members of the Grapes of Wrath and Econoline Crush, even occasionally slip away from their Delerium-esque stylings into a more pure perfect pop format. Despite the very dark and gothic cover art, Floodlit is radio-friendly to a fault, and, no doubt, by that same token it will inevitably alienate many true fans of darker gothic pop genre — it’s just too darned happy, upbeat and commercial for the mopey brooding fishnet-wearing masses. This collection of melodic and sugar-sweet tracks, complete with ethereal female vocals (by Julie Ferris) serves as a safe, rose-coloured introduction to the genre (a snack, per se) but for the majority of the meat, pain, and PVC-clad beauty of it all, one will have to look elsewhere for something deeper and more filling.