Looking at the front of this album, I was assuming that this was more in the realm of Kill Rock Stars indie rock. However, the style of music that The Lovekill come up with for their “These Moments are Momentum”, especially on their “Palms and Gin”, is something that comes forth as a more poppy version of At The Drive-In. The double vocals that open up this disc give the…
Although this album was produced by the same producer that worked with Three Doors Down and the guitarist from the same band, don’t hold it against Love 45. Once deemed a Christian band, Love 45 has since moved away from that designation and sought fame and glory along the power-rock bands of the day. Imagine here, a mixture of “A Boy Named Goo”-era Goo Goo Dolls along with the power…
Sounding virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the new-rock that has found its way onto heavy rotation in seemingly every Clearchannel-owned station, Denver’s Love.45 sounds like Breaking Benjamin and Earshot, as well as Creed and Taproot with their opening track, “Way Down”. The music is very coherent and while the mastering has allowed for the distinguishing of every individual instrument, the track comes forth as if a band, instead of…
The disc starts off in a decent way but Love Equals Death really makes a play for the big time whern the second track on the disc (When We Fall). The driven sound of this track, coupled with the multiple harmonies that find their way to the fore at specific points during the track, should be more than enough to keep listeners focused in for a few minutes. Other tracks,…
“Sketch” is a track that shows The Love Drunks as a band that is looking backward for their influence In a sense, all bands look backward for their influences, but the ties are much more clear when The Love Drunks step to the play. For example, hints of fifties country, ZZ Top, and even Van Halen become prevalent during this three minute introductory course to the band. In much the…
The electronic opening to “In Red” really gives Lovedrug a different sound than what would eventually win out on “Pretend You’re Alive”. The slightly sterile sound of the first minute of “In Red” morphs subtly into something that is a treasure trove of emotion and shows Lovedrug as a band that is ready for immense exposure on mTV and similar networks. Following tracks continue Lovedrug’s interesting blend of eighties electric…
The cover to Lovedrug’s “Everything Starts Where It Ends” does not really inspired many individuals. Hopefully, it will be the case that people find the band through their Myspace. The introductory track to the album is “Happy Apple Poison”, and it shows Lovedrug as an act that is influenced by the early-nineties stylings of Jane’s Addiction with a much more current brand of emotional rock. This results into something that…
Wow, is it just me or does “Suture Self” remind anyone of early Descendents? Well, maybe not EARLY Descendents, but something that really would have had to come out circa 1987-1988. Anyways, comparing a band to the Descendents (and there’s a little nod to Rise Against, as well), should be seen as nothing less than a glowing bit of praise. The Loved Ones deserve this; their “Keep Your Heart” comes…
Love and Squalor is a perfect band to showcase for being utterly bouncy without fitting into one single genre or general sound. At times sounding like the Descendents and The Replacements with a little emo (Jimmy Eat World, Fugazi) mixed in, Love and Squalor don’t want their audience to get bored. Tracks like “Were I With You” really recall the sound of the earliest days of the Lancaster music scene,…
The roughness of the rock that Loudlife comes up with for the opening of their CD is something that follows from 38 Special and leads through Every Mother’s Nightmare and Cinderella into something that is new but with a lot of history behind it. The vocals of Lorraine Ferro during this disc are at least as strong as furious as the guitar work that screams in the background, which makes…
The sunny punk-pop of “Feels Like Drowning” shows Dennis to be more influenced by Dick Dale and The Ramones than by Husker Du and The Replacements. This is not to say that the music has a dated or otherwise backwards sound it, but to expect more of the same music that brought Refused to the forefront is to invite disappointment. This brand of punk is almost the most simplistic and…
Keeping true to their status as at least a partially-California band, Los Kung-Fu Monkeys uses a number of styles to provide a fresh and groovy album for their listeners. Working off a base of Ska, Punk, and Surf, the Monkeys use a very positive-sounding music to promote a better world; specifically asking individuals to “justify your actions”, “take a look at the city tonight”, and “to stop all this war”.…
Losing All Pride plays a brand of punk that is tremendously tied into hardcore. The style is something that is comparable to an act like Sum 41, but there seems to be a much more genuine thrash influence. This is probably due to the fact that the band is coming fro a California that is rife with thrash history. This means that the disc is well less than thirty minutes,…
Los Deadbeats is a band from the Kent area. I actually have only seen them live once, but had a chance to hear this disc at the kids’ old house. Putting this disc in my player for a serious second listen allows me to hear more of the nuance that makes “Probably Drunk” much more of a solid album. During songs like “Legend of the Fohamma”, Los Deadbeats take on…
The hard crunch that starts out “Snake” is something that I completely did not expect from a band called Los Burbanks. The track throws in some punk bass into something that eventually makes itself into a style that seems closer to what a band called Los Burbanks would sound like. This means that “Snake” is a blend of 311 and Incubus and early Offspring. Los Burbanks are a bipolar band…
In what is probably the shortest LP of all time the ten-song, sub-15 minute disc put out by this Louisville band is hard hitting but suffers from awkward splits in the track. The entire disc feels as if it was just broken up from one extended track, and the screaming, noise-punk of Lords feels as if the band focused on one specific moment and went with it. The sizzling guitars…
Lordi – The Arockalypse Lordi was the act that won the 2006 Eurovision song contest, and for good reason. The field was very weak, and Lordi was one of the few acts that actually played any version of rock on the show. This album is an expanded version of “The Arockalypse”, with a few extra tracks present on the American versions. The style of music that Lordi plays, for those…
Why exactly Lorene Drive didn’t put “Let It Go” as the lead-off track for “Romantic Wealth” is beyond me. The first track, “God Knows I Love You Kid” is a track that is essentially a non-starter for the band, as it is even cut in a style that makes it feel as if it was culled from a different set of tracks than the rest of the disc. As it…
Pretty solid rap coming out of a more laid-back outlook, Lordroc’s first track on “E2 To Bass”, “Who Is It U Love?”. Everything comes together convincingly, whether it is the early-nineties backbeat or the female vocals that work as a bridge on the track. Using a host of different producers for every track, Lordroc runs the risk of making an album that shifts in overall sound every few minutes. Luckily,…
One thing that immediately stands out about Looks Like Rain is vocalist Amy Court, who begins this EP with a very Susanne Vega meets Dolores O’Riordan set of vocals. The music may not be the most intricate of nests in which to lay the sweet vocals of Amy, but really functions well as a background. Imagine the light-rock stylings of Sixpence None the Richer and one will get the general…