The Submarines
continue to erase the border between indie pop and electronica-lite on
Love Notes/Letter Bombs
, the couple's third collection of tortured, peppy love songs. Having shared frontman duties on their 2006 debut, the two have settled into their individual roles by now, with
Blake Hazard
serving as lead vocalist and husband
John Dragonetti
-- who composes music for commercials and television shows during the band's downtime -- taking responsibility for most of the instrumentation.
Dragonetti
's experience with TV music has influenced the band before, with two cuts from the sophomore effort
Honeysuckle Weeks
winding up in iPhone commercials soon after the album's release. The songs on
are similarly jingle-worthy, and
explores some interesting territory throughout the album, combining synthesizers and tweaked, computerized sounds with the organic hum of acoustic guitars and handclaps. Sonically, it's
the Submarines
' most interesting record to date. ~ Andrew Leahey