St. Louis’ Ludo have worked their way up from Warped Tour B-listers to modern-rock radio B-listers, thanks to an expensive major-label debut crafted with Maroon 5 producer Matt Wallace. Wallace polished the band’s emo-punk predictably, packing the group’s My Chemical Romance-styled drama into tight, Killers-inspired pop songs, but he couldn’t gloss over the band’s fundamental lack of wit or songwriting chops. “Does the fun ever...

Ludo earned countless comparisons to Weezer with their 2004 self-titled debut, and with good reason: The album sounded like the record longtime Weezer fans wished Weezer still made; a smart, catchy power-pop record with ample Moog synthesizers. On their newest, album, You’re Awful, I Love You, the band . . .