New York City looks so glamorous from afar, but when I get there I'm reminded that I don't belong with the constant honking, the frustrating one-way streets, and the crazy taxi cab drivers. When I leave, however, I am suddenly left with a longing to belong. I guess NYC is too hip for me, and sometimes it is too hip for its local artists. The Strokes were deemed as the leaders of the garage band revolution, but what are they now? "Over-hyped," "inflated," and "pompous" to the critics, but they are selling out venues all over the world. It was the hype that brought such criticisms, not their level of talent. Ambulance LTD is getting some hype, but not enough to cause people to despise them before hearing a note of their music.
Their songs range from infectious pop numbers like "Anecdote" to songs reminiscent of British rock like "Sugar Pill." Evident influences from The Beatles, The Smiths, Elliott Smith, Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine, and Joy Division can be picked up on first listen of LP. By having a spectrum of songs, Ambulance LTD are not limiting their abilities to one specific type of genre. I won't be obscure; I like the album.
It's difficult to describe why their songs are good, but I can easily point out what they are lacking; there are no cute boy-girl duets, big rich orchestras, or incredibly profound lyrics to make their songs "special." There's nothing fancy in "Heavy Lifting," in fact, it borders The Strokes territory with its rigid strumming and fuzzy guitars, but they close the song with an unexpected fade-in of a pretty riff and "oooh's" They move their sound to the West Coast in "Stay Where You Are" with sunny pop hooks, breezy vocals, and ambivalent lyrics.
There are no transitions to prepare for the different styles of music in each track. Marcus Congleton has a spiritual moment by singing, "Well I'm going to try / I'm going to pave the way at night / nothing but gospel in my mind" in the folk song "Michigan" contrasting with the callousness of "Primitive (The Way I Treat You)." While My Bloody Valentine have such an immense influence in the track "Swim" that it could be one of their lost B-sides. Their cover of The Velvet Underground's "The Ocean" is a nice surprise as a hidden track and a perfect closing of a beautiful album.
I don't think my review does this album justice. I hesitate to give LP a score higher than an 8.8, because I can understand where a comment like "unoriginal" may originate from, but that is one of the reasons LP is one of my favorite releases of the year; their songs remind me of some great artists that no longer produce music.
