Monday, March 18, 2013

Album Review: The Lovely Bad Things - The Late Great Whatvere




























*blows off the dust* Well hey you! It's been a while. School and work has been keeping most of my writing hostage. This is the jailbreak."Wait a minute!", I realized,  "I love writing about music on my blog. Aww but I gotta write about music for my job. Boo!...wait a minute!" And so the second greatets idea ever was born! (The first being Netflix because I didn't need a social life anyway)


I'm gonna start hosting some of my content on this blog, float some material that may not be published in the GSU Signal (Not to toot my own horn but rewarding winning college journalism , and just generally voice my opinions when I can't be bothered to stay on hold and bitch to midday DJ's that I've heard this Maroon 5 song FIVE MINUTES AGO.

So, my anger issues out of the way! In case anyone missed this little nugget from the print edition, The Lovely Bad Things are some lovely good things! (sorry) from California. They bring a unique bit of 60's bubblegum swagger to the already crowded garage rock/surf rock revival scene, helping them standout. And I remember not hating their debut.


The Lovely Bad Things
The Late Great Whatever
(Burger Records)
February 26, 2013

Grade: B-


Verdict: Garage rock with a splash of sugary surf pop;think a less narcoleptic Best Coast with a punk rock edge.


California quartet, The Lovely Bad Things are relative newcomers to the music scene and, as expected, really haven’t had a lot time to fully develop their sound; A fact that shows on their debut full length The Late Great Whatever. So yes, they do sound green on this record at times, and fall into some of the many pitfalls starting bands with little attention in an over exposed scene tend to usually make with their debut LP. The scene in this case being of the garage rock revival variety and The Lovely Bad Things just happen to be band #276 to pick up the torch. But while the temptation is there to write them off from the get go as having nothing new to contribute and resigning yourself to a predicted “guitar fuzz” gimmick that will wear out it’s welcome quickly, The Lovely Bad Things are worth a second listen and do show shards of creativity.

For starters, the decision to mix garage rock with a splash of sugary surf pop is a nice creative touch. Think a less narcoleptic Best Coast with a punk rock edge. The first half of the album rides on a high wave of washed out sounding guitars paired up with  lovely male/female vocal harmonies that sound at once too pop to be punk but too punk to be pop. And the frantic drumming fills lend each song the energy of a swelling wave just before it breaks over the shore. It’s kinda impossible to NOT use surfing metaphors when describe the group's sound. 

The downside is that as enjoyable as it all sounds at first, the never stopping wave of noise starts to feel a little too encompassing and veers into generic territory when the melodies aren’t as tight. The first 4 tracks are great toe tappers but the ideas taper off after that leading to a middle that just drags. There is a bit a resurgence near the end of the album on “Honeycomb Cocoon” (one of the best songs on the album) but the momentum never really recovers.The Lovely Bad’s don’t seem to know what they want to sound like. “Darth Lauren” and Randle The Savage” are undeniably screaming punk rockers while “Rope Swing” could easily be a Beach Boys B-side. But they get the best results when they harmonize both approaches and create an atmosphere that’s equal parts as charming and aggressive as fast spinning ferris wheel. 

 
As it stands, The Late Great Whatever is the sound of a band trying out it’s training wheels. They take a few bumps along the way, but they’re going to let a little thing like inexperience stop them from having a good time.









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