The Crimes of Ambition label themselves a "political rock band", but you'd be hard-pressed to guess that from
Spinning Hearts In Perpetual Orbit. In large part, this is because frontwoman Lisa Blue lacks the passion you'd normally associate with politically minded bands. Her flat, nasal whine saps what little energy the songs have, and makes her sound as if she doesn't care about her band's message.
Then again, her band doesn't seem to have a message. "Truthless", for example, makes a vague reference to "Poker machines and soccer moms / The ten commandments on the side of a bomb", but the words sound as if they were chosen as much to fit into the song's rhyme scheme as for their political connotations. Nor does the music help -- it's just track after track of joyless, plodding blues rock. The only exception is "Animal Planet", in which The Crimes of Ambition incorporate a bit of a rockabilly edge; for once, Blue actually sounds like she's enjoying herself. It's the high point on an otherwise tedious album, and you'll wonder why they don't do it more often.
