Category: Music Reviews

Posted on: August 7, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Losing All Pride – Down This Road (CD)

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,…

Posted on: August 7, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Los Deadbeats – Probably Drunk (CD)

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…

Posted on: August 6, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Los Burbanks – Snake (CD)

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…

Posted on: August 6, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Lords – The House That Lords Built (CD)

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…

Posted on: August 6, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Lordi – The Arockalypse (CD)

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…

Posted on: August 5, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Lorene Drive – Romantic Wealth (CD)

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…

Posted on: August 5, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Lordroc – E2 To Bass (CD)

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,…

Posted on: August 4, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Looks Like Rain – S/T EP +2 (CD)

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…

Posted on: August 4, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Look Mexico – The Crucial EP (CD)

The guitar-heavy opening to “He Bit Me” opens up into a fuller instrumental track which is comparable to the post-Fugazi pre-emo acts, bands like The Appleseed Cast and Desert City Soundtrack. The track is only ninety seconds long but the arrangements are complicated and fulfilling; individuals would be fools to not be fans of Look Mexico after this first track. This same type of rich instrumentation continues with “I Can’t…

Posted on: August 4, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Longwave – There’s A Fire (CD)

Longwave is a band that has been inculcated to Automatic for the People-era R.E.M., as well as most the bands from that era. This is not to say that they are necessarily dated or cliché, but to the contrary they start off “There’s A Fire” with a hard-hitting earworm of a track, replete with hard-hitting drums and snaky synth lines. The move towards and away from an intense sound during…