Since the mid-1990s, the British trio Placebo has established its own place in alternative music and has built a loyal audience. This happened with a formula - bare punk rock and decadent glam with a pinch of electronics, coupled with the androgynous presentation and vocals of frontman Brian Molko - that the group has hardly deviated from in almost twenty years. Their seventh album Loud Like Love
… also sounds like Placebo from the first bars of the title track. Molko said prior to its release that it would be lyrically his most personal album, telling about various forms of love. But it is mainly wanton songs with slightly provocative lyrics like Rob The Bank and Too Many Friends (with the cheerful opening line 'My computer thinks I'm gay') that attract the first attention. Touch or move, like on strong albums like Without You I'm Nothing (1998) or Meds (2006), Molko and band do nothing, despite a theme that seems made for that. What remains is a fine Placebo album full of catchy Placebo songs. (MR)more
