According to the Kola Koca Death Squad’s Web site, kolakocadeathsquad.com, Mike Brewer (vocals and guitar) and Colin Frazier (drums) wrote 10 songs in their first three sessions together. Only a few months later and the band was in the recording studio.

The result: a creative energy that can only be found in newly-formed bands, but an album that sounds poorly produced and poorly recorded.

The Kola Koca Death Squad was not ready to make a self-titled debut full-length quite yet. The sound is immature, and they need to decide if they want a bass player or not.

Jack O’Connor, one of eight other guest musicians on the album, plays bass for the band on six of the 13 tracks. Guest musicians are for showcasing, not putting in the background on every other track.

The Kola Koca Death Squad’s underdeveloped sound is also easily noticed on the put-you-to-sleep-boring track “W.T.F.” that is so poorly written I don’t even know if you could call them lyrics.

But Wife Records shouldn’t throw them back yet. Any listener can tell that the band is going for something very original (think the ’90s Billy Idol singing for a current alternative garage band), but they are having a hard time achieving it on this album.

The Kola Koca Death Squad could turn out to be a good catch in the long run. According to the band’s Web site, they peaked at number 21 on WKSR’s top songs in rotation and stayed in the top 30 for six weeks.

So if they’re good enough for Black Squirrel Radio, then they’re good enough for me. But if they come out with another album, I hope it’s good, not good enough.

-Erica Crist

Stater Rating (out of four stars): 2.5