Dereck Higgins has a penchant for remarkably artificial sounds. His über chorus-oriented guitar, delightfully reverb-drenched vocals, Casiotone percussion and assorted other early '80s trademarks blend in a pleasant amalgam of electronic pop. Unfortunately, this delicate sound isn't well served by his indifferent lyrics.

2 starts out well . Opener "The Door" gives us our first taste of Dereck's rich, resounding vocals. An ethereal arpeggiated guitar line, a clever riff and understated synth chords panned to the right combine in a crisp sonic landscape well suited to such a powerful voice. "Little Black Dog", despite an unfortunate steel-drum flourish at the end of every other measure, is an endearing Peter Frampton-style "Oh baby I love your way" knockoff. The good news, then, is that Higgins's booming baritone covers a lot of ground, but his lyrics often seem irrelevant: "I found a little black dog / Far from his home / Little black dog all alone / I'll be your friend / I won't hurt you / I'll stay by your side / You're not alone." It's nice that Dereck likes dogs and all, but what's the point of this message, and why was it paired with this music and this voice?

"What You're Looking For" doesn't fare much better. "So you're thinking of the future," Dereck sings, "regretting all your past / All the while you're feeling / Feeling lost and sad." Still, his Morrissey-esque melodies, subtly layered harmonies, and appealing voice are almost enough to counter the rudimentary rhyme scheme and lyrical clichés. Instrumental "M2", is a great Twin Peaks homage, featuring ambient, synthetic nature sounds and reverse-gated dialog samples. It's a welcome and unexpected experimental recess from Dereck's unsubtle sentiments.

On the bright side, most of Higgins's vocals are so obscured by reverb that it's impossible to make out the lyrics without referring to the liner notes. That should allow less lyrically-minded listeners to focus on and enjoy Dereck's sonorous voice rather than bemoaning 2's lack of lyrical substance.