Princess Ugly

With a name like Princess Ugly, it seems only fitting that there’s a certain amount of unattractiveness to their debut CD. The problem comes from the fact that it can never quite overcome that ugliness of J. Christopher-Rome’s vocals, which are at times reminiscent of Love & Rockets’ Daniel Ash. But it’s those other times that the vocals are the problem — they sound contrived, as if they’re just an act to try and make We Knew It Was Perfect more interesting. We Knew It Was Perfect is a downbeat record that doesn’t quite manage to deliver in the melancholy department. It opens well enough with "Reasons Don’t Know,” which could musically fit on the last Carissa’s Wierd record. And if that was the case with the other nine tracks, that would be just fine. But it isn’t. It just meanders along and although it is never horrible, it just isn’t very good either.