You're Awful, I Love You
You're Awful, I Love You is the second full-length studio album by St. Louis pop punk indie band Ludo and the band's first to be released by Island Records. The title comes from a lyric in their single, "Love Me Dead." The song "Love Me Dead" was featured in a summer 2008 promo for the television series House and also became Ludo's most successful song to date, peaking at #8 on the "Billboard" Alternative Songs Chart. Critical reception. "IGN"s Chad Grischow praised lead singer Andrew Volpe's vocals for being  compelling without becoming theatrical and the mixture of "poppy hooks and macabre lyrics" throughout the track listing but felt that most of them "fall short with bland verses ("Drunken Lament")" and "a little too much pop gloss ("Mutiny Below")". He concluded that, ""You're Awful, I Love You" is a solid album of straight-ahead rockers, enhanced by some creepy songwriting and fantastic hooks. Ludo's major label debut hints that they probably have a great album or two in them, if they can overcome their inconsistency. Still, you will not want to turn your back on this one, for  a few reasons." AllMusic writer William Ruhlmann felt that the band's lyricism was considerably "dumbed down" from their previous effort, noting how "Topeka" squanders its beginning by having a lack of direction and continuous repetition of said beginning, and highlighting "Go-Getter Greg" for having "enough flair" to come from their first album, concluding that "Those who have never heard Ludo may think "You're Awful, I Love You" is an efficient work of pop/rock. Those who know better will be disappointed." A writer for Alternative Addiction preferred the "darker themed songs ("Love Me Dead", "Lake Pontchartrain")" over  the "really bright, energetic and fun ("Please", "Such As It Ends")" but gave credit to the latter for having a likable charm to them, concluding that the record "brings the band's intelligent and quirky rock to the mainstream, and that's never a bad thing." Personnel. Adapted credits from the liner notes of "You're Awful, I Love You".