Ludo, with Steel Train, the Spill Canvas, and Liam and Me

Smartass geek rock will never go out of fashion. That's good news to St. Louis's Ludo, whose quirky pop spills all over its major-label debut, You're Awful, I Love You — a set of catchy gems played with spunk and sprinkled with cheese. "We look forward to making whatever crazy records pop into our collective brain," says front man Andrew Volpe, who shuts down all attempts to classify his band's sound — despite the fact that Ludo is often paired with emo and punk groups on tour. "We don't really identify with any of those terms. We just kind of like rock." The new CD proves this on songs like "The Horror of Our Love" and "Drunken Lament," which perfectly balance brainy humor and electric intensity, without falling into an easily defined category. Onstage and on the streets, Ludo sports retro-fab '80s wear, taking geek chic to its extreme. "The way I see it, you should wear what sounds good," says Volpe. "And nothing sounds better than corduroy." Smartass.