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:::::: JUNE 9th, 2008 ::::::
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:::::: TRACK BY TRACK ::::::
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TRACKLISTING 1. City Of Gainesville 2. The State Of Florida 3. Does the Lion City Still Roar? 4. Summon Monsters 5. Abandon Ship 6. Handshake Meets Pokerface 7. Settling Son 8. Malachi Richter's Liquor's Quicker 9. Golden Age Of My Negative Ways 10. The Space They Can't Touch 11. Conviction Notice 12. This One's Gonna Leave A Bruise 13. The Life Of The Party Has Left The Building 14. Devil In My DNA Bonus Track 15. Antidote Of The Underdog :: The Verdict :: The fact that LTJ have had some of my all time favourite albums in the past, then let us down recently both live & on record probably has me being a bit tough on this so called 'return to form'. Yes this album is better than the last few, but no, it has nothing on Pezcore, Losing Streak, Hello Rockview, and i think in some parts they've tried too hard to re-create the past and it doesn't sound natural, just predictable, however the end of the album does show promise with some solid tracks. Horns are a huge letdown, very little creativity in that department. |
"City Of Gainesville" kicks off with a horn line pretty much the same as '9th At Pine' from their 'Losing Streak' album, perhaps the first little trick into having you believe they've done the promised return to the sound that defined them. It's a decent little intro track, a slow start, but familiar in vibe. "The State Of Florida" blasts into action, a pace that has been pretty rare for LTJ over the last few albums, fast, punky and a nice little guitar solo thrown in. Not bad, let's hope it continues in this fashion and steps up a little more. "Does the Lion City Still Roar?" is the first single from the album, the whole ska-punk sound is in full effect here, the verses outshine the chorus though, it's pretty lacking in a big chorus, particularly for a single. The horns also are a little too predictable and simple, if used a little better they could really bring out something more in this track. "Summon Monsters" is another fast paced punk rock track, again let down by cheap / predictable horn lines, for a band that are such prolific songwriters with such a signature sound it can't be easy to keep pumping out winners, and maybe i'm being a little harsh, but this is the kind of song we've heard from the band, many times already, so there just doesn't seem to be an impact, just 'another LTJ song'. "Abandon Ship" isn't a bad track, but isn't one that becomes memorable either, very run of the mill / going through the motions, has a little bit of everything style wise. "Handshake Meets Pokerface" is another song that I think is let down by the horns, these kind of horn lines should probably be left buried from 10 years ago, it just adds the wrong flavour to the song in my mind, the kind of horn lines that brand new ska bands start out using, not veteran bands, extra cheese that the song doesn't need. "Settling Son" kicks off with a promising start, some nice fast paced guitar work, leading into a powerful verse that captures your interest instantly. The pace keeps up throughout the song and we're left with a really solid punk rock track, the chorus could probably be a little bigger, but overall, the band is stepping out of the predictable coat and doing something different with their sound, and it works. One is one of the best so far. "Malachi Richter's Liquor's Quicker" has a solid chorus, the rest is a little bit of a letdown however, another one of those 'too predictable' kinda tracks though. Filler at best. "Golden Age Of My Negative Ways" is a short horn-heavy track, clocking in at 1:40, good for filler, but doesn't really stand out as anything special. "The Space They Can't Touch" is an upbeat ska-fueled number you can move around to, a track that has a bit of a natural vibe to it, and not a forced attempt to "return to the old sound", and the result is positive. "Conviction Notice" continues the positive action, another cracker of a song, despite being a little overly repetitive, this one sticks and stands out, one of the better songs we've heard from the band in the last few years. "This One's Gonna Leave A Bruise" is the album's highlight, a fast, aggressive song that rides on a nice guitar line, solid vocals and a little bit of extra fury from behind the drums for a change. This is the kind of new material we've been longing for for a number of albums. "The Life Of The Party Has Left The Building" is over with in just 39 seconds, aside from bridging the gap between two solid songs, doesn't have much else purpose. "Devil In My DNA" continues the trend of impressive songs, it seems they've saved the best streak towards the end, certainly these last few songs are a big step away from the material they've offered on previous releases. "Antidote Of The Underdog" is the bonus track, and to be honest I can't figure out why it wasn't included in the regular tracklisting, there's plenty of songs it could very easily replace. It's a little bit rawer in sound than the other tracks, which gives it some character, something a few of the early-mid songs were lacking. 'GNV FLA' INSTORES JUNE 23RD SLEEP IT OFF | SHOCK PRE-ORDER NOW AT PLAY4ME.COM.AU AND GET IT DELIVERED FREE! [More Info / Order Here] |
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:::::: PREVIOUS 2008 LOWDOWNS ::::::
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| --------- [Monday June 9th] - Less Than Jake, The Night Marchers, Weezer, Kidneys, The Paper And The Plane, The Hampdens, Kisschasy, Ruin Gloria, Antagonist, Hawksley Workman, Johnny Truant. LIVE - Story Of The Year / The Audition / The Mission In Motion. --------- [Monday May 26th] - Alkaline Trio, H20, From First To Last, Lost In Line, Shai Hulud, H.I.M, Eyes Set To Kill, Foxboro Hot Tubs, The Living End, Dirt River Radio, Kill Teen Angst. --------- [Monday May 12th] - Black Lungs, Stick To Your Guns, Ballpoint, The Click Five, Terror, Sin City, Punk Goes Crunk, The Weepies, Local Resident Failure, Flight Of The Conchords, Reptiles, Stiff Valentine, Mudcrutch, Scream Hello, Panic At The Disco. --------- [Monday April 21st] - Shihad, In The Face Of War, Zxspecky, As Tall As Lions, New Found Glory, Down And Away, The Hellacopters, Sleepercar, Periah, Four Year Strong, Witch, Rollins Band, In Fiction, Nixin. --------- [Monday April 7th] - Goldfinger, No Use For A Name, Cancer Bats, Zico Chain, Good Riddance, Fall Out Boy, Julia Nunes, Veebees, Panic At The Disco, Jackson United, Foals, Liam Finn, Galvatrons, Paramore. --------- [Monday March 24th] - Pennywise, New Found Glory, Anti-Flag, Broadway Calls, Polar Bear Club, Little Athletics, Levon's Crown, Closure In Moscow, Queens Of The Stone Age, Jim Ward, Dan Mangan, Boom Boom Satellites. --------- [Monday March 10th] - Millencolin, Triple J's Hottest 100, The Matches, Saosin, Suburban Movement, Soundwave, Serj Tankian, Young Knives. --------- [Monday March 3rd] - Gyroscope, Smashing Pumpkins, Paint It Black, Murder By Death, A Cursive Memory, The Raveonettes, This Is Hell, The Used, The Red Paintings, The Death Set, Simple Plan. --------- [Monday February 18th] - The Gaslight Anthem, Forgiven Rival, The Phoenix Foundation, X-Box Presents... Start, Dora Mah, Subwaste / Tommy Gustaffson & The Idiots, The Reason, Panic At The Disco, Shihad. --------- [Monday February 11th] - Time Again, Socratic, Bedouin Soundclash, The Getaway Plan, Angela's Dish, Juno Soundtrack, Boys Like Girls, Regular John, Louis XIV. --------- [Monday February 4th] - The Loved Ones, Chris Walla, Fast Forward - Indie Trax #2, Bullet For My Valentine, Promise Of Redemption, Mae, Enter Shikari, Jack Johnson, Unpaid Debt. --------- [Monday January 28th] - Flogging Molly, Vice Pirate, 50 Years Of Australian Rock 'N Roll, Our Last Night, Sherwood, Change!, Pee Approved #4, The Mars Volta, Danny Diablo, The Hampdens, Carpathian, Pee Zine. --------- [Monday January 21st] - Horrorpops, Lungs, The Audition, The Contact, Rise Against, Gyroscope, Milloy, The Gaslight Anthem, Dark Skies, Straightjacket Nation, Puddle Of Mudd, Damien Rice. --------- [Monday January 14th] - City And Colour, Run! Hide!, Protest The Hero, Teenage Bottlerocket, Dub Trio, Too Pure To Die, Memphis May Fire, The Leap Year, Mindless Self Indulgence, Crapulous Gee Gaw, Liam Finn, Blackpool Lights. |
