The other day, as I was rifling through videotapes in search of a blank one, I made an unexpected discovery. "Clerks," "The Wedding Singer," "Addicted to Love" and "Grosse Pointe Blank"-- all movies I've taped recently-- have romance at their foundations. (Okay, "Clerks" just barely has a romantic foundation, but I'm trying to make a point here, so suspend your disbelief.)

Needless to say, my manhood was severely damaged. Even after a day's worth of watching football and eating spicy Mexican takeout, I still wasn't fully recovered. Then I turned on the stereo, popped in Wonderland Park and realized something that cheered me up a bit: romance may make for good comedy, but everyone knows love sucks. That's something that I can deal with, while keeping my dignity.

For those not familiar with Ednaswap, they wrote and composed the original version of "Torn," Natalie Imbruglia's even- hotties- get- the- blues megahit. Back when Anne Preven sung it, "Torn" was more believable; Preven's ashtray vocals and sexy frown made you believe she really had been torn, time and time again.

Preven often places herself in the throes of despair, yet she's somehow so down that you can't help but feel up. "Love is the cure/ And the affliction," she howls in "Back On the Sun," saying more in one melodic moan than Imbruglia could do in a lifetime of lip- pursing. Preven may be a heartsick romantic, but she's not just another pretty face.

Preven isn't always recovering, though. Rising and falling vibes and spacy keyboards prop her Lennon-esque vocals on the charmingly optimistic "74 Willows." But there's a dark undertone even in the happiness: "A new outlook/ For a cynical soul/ The feeling I get when the opiates flow/ Oh, you are that/ Oh, you art that."

What keeps Preven's musings from hopelessness is an atmospheric and catchy musical backing. The churning guitar of "Without Within" is as mesmerizing as Preven's croon, and the mix of electric and acoustic guitars and "la la la" backing on "Safety Net" is sugar-pop with a bitter center, as is the "ooh ooh ooh" harmonizing of "Supernatural."

Wonderland Park has its sour notes. "747" seems to want the best of both worlds and "A Conversation" is a hetero Indigo Girls song, but when you're teetering on the edge of romance, you're sure to step over the line occasionally. More often than not, though, Ednaswap stays on the right side of that threshold, and make love sound as shitty as it really is without giving hope entirely.

-Shan Fowler

"Liquid Soul"

[Real Audio Stream]