I heard so much buzz about this album that I finally just had to snag it. From several good reviews/rating and lead vocalist Christopher Owens back story, which is an article on its own, I gave it a shot. I'll be honest, my first listen deemed this album that of another overrated indie album. Not to mention its lethargic and beachy feel amongst this current "beach sound" craze (which I have taken quite an interest in as of late, I will say) that gives births to new bands frequently. I just wasn't feeling it, I guess.... But as I gave it one more shot, I found myself enjoying it much more. Of course "Lust for Life", being their golden "hit", springs into action with a pingy guitar and Owens' whiny but oddly enjoyable voice begins the song with, "Oh, I wish I had a boyfriend, I wish I had a loving man in my life". Then the whole band jumps to life with far off drums and shakers. Once "Lust for Life" ends it jumps straight into "Laura", a catchy up-beat yet apologetic song with one of my favorite bass-lines in a song ever. But "Laura" doesn't just offer a dismal story about a girl and a gnarly bassline in the chorus, it finishes off with a, what I'd like to call, "jam", which I am a sucker for (eg: M.Ward).
Despite, "Big Bad Mean Mother Fucker" a straight up beach-rock song that reminisces the Beach Boys, the rest of the album retains roughly the same sound, but in a good way. However, the highlight (for me that is) of "Album" is "Curl's"/"Darling", a kind of two part song at the very end of the album that holds on to the same melody throughout. "Curls" starts of with a gnarly and very lazy but catchy guitar riff (that I always think of seeing in a western where the camera introduces the "hero" of the movie walking in.....I digress)then fades into a relaxing summer day tune. As "Curls" finishes it transitions into the rockin' "Darling" and continues on to become a suitable and delivering album finisher.
My only beef with this album is the similarity of songs "Ghost Mouth" and "Hellhole Ratrace". Both are very good and enjoyable songs but sound quite the same. Despite that tiny problem, this is a very good album that definitely deserves the ratings it has achieved. I highly recommend this album to everyone and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
"Lust For Life"-Free MP3
2 comments:
i had this album in my itunes for the longest time and only really paid attention to 'lust for life,' 'hellhole rat race' and 'laura' and then in a tragic accident it was deleted with the rest of my library. after this review, it may just have to make a comeback!
Man, I highly recommend getting it again. I was definitely not feeling it the first time.....now 3 weeks later, I've probably ran through that whole cd, minus a couple of songs due to lack of interest, like 10 times. Srry about all the music you lost...stinks!
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