Graceful Degradation

They might be Made In China, but the lineup is a combination of east and west, with main man (singer, songwriter and lead guitars) Yvon Serre from Canada, rhythm guitarist Angela Renzetti from the US and Huang Hongliang (bass) and Zhao Qian (drums) making up the Chinese element. Serre has been in the music business for something in the region of 35 years, having first signed a record deal at the age of 23, and judging from this effort he hasn't evolved much in that time.

For a man who boasts on his website about the number of songs he has written over the years, you would think he would be better at it. This album is ... ordinary. Sure, they go for big choruses which work reasonably enough, but there's just nothing terribly appealing about any of it. The rawness of the production is almost demo quality at times, the songs don't have much in the way of hooks, with the exception of Hot Summer Day which has a certain charm and does actually manage to make an impact right from the opening bars. One track out of 13 is not all that impressive.

This is MIC's second album, Serre's sixth, and while I will concede he is a reasonable enough guitarist I just don't rate this at all. It feels stuck in a 70s rock timewarp but not in a good way. Decidedly mundane, and not even bad enough to be interesting.