Lotus
The Road To Calvary
Shield Recordings/Assault Records (2017)
Deep inside Belgium lies Lotus, the Powerbar of Antwerp hardcore. In early December Lotus released their particular blend of pessimistic optimism, paradoxically digestible yet equally unsettling. Steering modern hardcore trends away from cheap nihilism, The Road to Calvary bites down a vicious chunk of hardcore spirit that raises my pulse, burning the excess fat that clogs my record shelf.Within Lotus’s … Read more
Loud Boyz
Party In The USA
Independent (2017)
You know, I’ve never knowingly listened to Miley Cyrus, but I’m pretty sure this record is named tongue-in-cheek and doesn’t include a cover. Full disclosure, I looked up her “Party in the USA” song a couple hours after my first draft of this review. I wish I hadn’t, though it was certainly a learning experience about different lifestyles.For some reason … Read more
Loud Boyz
Tough Love, Hard Feelings
Cricket Cemetery (2015)
Before I get started I’m going to dish out a rare complement. Loud Boyz have a good, fitting name. Even the record title, Tough Love, Hard Feelings is apt of their sound: rough, distant, yet with a clear emotional connection. Sure, the record cover is…let’s say odd, and I kind of hate the whole “z” in place of “s” thing, … Read more
Loud Love
Self Titled EP
White Russian Records (2019)
Loud Love is a Belgian five piece that released their debut EP on White Russian Records. Everyone in this record has past experience in other bands and you can hear that. If only because this sounds really tight and professional. Loud Love plays the kind of hardcore that reminds me of the melodic hardcore that Reflections Records released in the … Read more
Love Collector
My Baby Goes Waaah!
Big Action (2009)
What you get with Love Collector is pretty straightforward. Only a few seconds into "My Baby Goes Waaah!," the titular track on this 7", it's clear that this is a band that plays punk-fused garage rock, with lots of guitar, a few pedals, and lots of attitude hovering around the two-minute-per song mark. It's also the kind of rock where … Read more
Love Forty Down
Don't Be A Stranger EP
SBÄM Records (2022)
I don’t come across a lot of punk bands with “love” in their name. Whether it’s justified or not, that led me to expect something a bit more dramatic and heart-on-sleeve than this. The music is more post-hardcore meets melodic punk, a la Hot Water Music meets Iron Chic. It’s built around singalong, harmonized choruses with some build-up and progressions … Read more
Love, Hope and Fear
Fate's Frowned on Us
Escapist (2007)
Love, Hope and Fear are not what they used to be. And I mean that literally as well as musically. Their latest release, the four-song Fate's Frowned on Us, is the band's third official release in the band's five year (give or take) career. However, it is their second release since the revival of the lineup. Love, Hope And Fear … Read more
Lovesliescrushing
Glinter
TQA Records (2012)
Sitting down with Glinter forces me to ask why loveliescrushing is not more of a go to “band” for my listening habits given the theoretical confluence of sounds that people ascribe to this long running creative duo, but then it just hits me, loveliescrushing has just never hit me at the right time or been fortuitous before with the timing … Read more
Low
Drums and Guns
Sub Pop (2007)
Low are known as pioneers of the slow-core genre, or what I like to call "intense sleepy-time music." They reached their noisiest peak in the winter of 2005 with The Great Destroyer, an album that boomed with huge percussion and the most distortion they had ever put on guitar. Pushing their sound to such a loud extreme must have tired … Read more
Low Culture
Evil
Drunken Sailor (2013)
This EP runs all of 4:59, featuring two new cuts from Low Culture. The band just released a full-length earlier this year on Dirtnap Records, Screens, and it’s making waves—at least in this writer’s household. With that aside, this 7” jumps right into the heart of melodic garage-punk, very in tune with the Dirtnap sound (though this comes courtesy of … Read more
Low Culture
Places To Hide
Dirtnap (2016)
Screens, (2013) was damn near perfect. So what does Low Culture have in store with their second LP? It’s not disappointment, that’s for sure. Places to Hide continues their run of modern garage-punk that’s run through the melody filter and cleaned up of the fuzz and distortion, letting the elemental energy and punk tempo drive the songs while the vocals … Read more
Low Culture
Screens
Dirtnap (2013)
Low Culture packs a punch. Not an angry punch, but one that, upon hearing it, your foot taps and your head bobs. The band, bringing ex members of Shang-A-Lang and Total Jock together, somewhat combines those sounds, but here they are growing in a cleaner sound that is more rooted in the melody. Oh, and they round out the group … Read more
Low Forms
Low Forms EP
Big Action Records/Tectonic Plates (2014)
Low Forms self-titled 7” is a six minute blast of power-pop defined by clean guitars, rhythmic chops, and traditional format rock ’n’ roll. While it’s not reinventing anything, it’s a solid homage to a timeless style with a nice build-up from opening verse to close, milking the verse-chorus-verse structure to increase urgency as the song progresses without succumbing to dumbed … Read more
Low Places
Spiritual Treatment
A389 (2011)
Low Places have done much in a short time. Coming out of California with a style that is unlikeable to most and building on said style till it makes sense while still remaining well outside of the norm. The band go from lurching Eyehategod inspired pieces to what can be either powerviolence inspired hardcore or what sounds like EHG on … Read more
Lucero
1372 Overton Park
Universal (2009)
Lucero is a band that people feel passionately about. You either love them or hate them. Their fans are very adamant about which record is their favorite, and subsequently, the best in their eyes. With 1372 Overton Park Lucero has gone on to make what is one of the most fully realized albums of their career. Unfortunately, Lucero's vision for … Read more
Lucero
When You Found Me
Liberty & Lament (2021)
Lucero describe their music as “rock and soul,” which has evolved from countrified punk to horn-driven rock to balladry and a whole lot more. It’s a fitting and evolving term. Through it all one thing always shines through, which is the personal and heartfelt emotion that defines their songwriting. When You Found Me is predominantly a blend of guitar and … Read more
Lucero / Loggia
Split 7
Soul is Cheap (2005)
This is the kind of split 7" I like to see. On one side you have Lucero, a Memphis band who have recently gained a lot of popularity. They have a style that is as equally influenced by Jawbreaker as it is by Waylon Jennings. They constantly are on tour, put out records on large indie labels, and have drawn … Read more
Lucinda Williams
Blessed
Lost Highway (2011)
Over twenty-two years and ten studio albums Lucinda Williams has made a name for herself. She has a number of career achievements, but this isn’t Wikipedia, it’s the review section. Hell, I’m going to come right out and say it: I’m not that familiar with Lucinda Williams’ discography. Don’t expect any Car Wheels on a Gravel Road comparisons here. Instead, … Read more
