Album Spotlight: The Love Lights
Entering the music scene with a glass shattering roar comes
The Love
Lights, a bunch of free-spirited, glowing pop-stars from
Bellingham, Washington. Featuring big horns on top of a '70s drive
and Bosstone beat, Young Lions opens with a bang. The
leading track,
Big Mouth
, begins with a low growl but
quickly escalates to a percolating dance party.
That's Why We Can't Be Friends
features all the doo-wop you'd expect from
a band center stage at a '50s prom, telling the triumphant tale of
being young and in love to suddenly single at the tender age of
sixteen.
And keeping in tune with that fun, decades-old influence is the
beachy
O! Eidolon
-- bringing to mind Gidgett and Moon
Doggy doing the Mashed Potato in a sand bar.
Staying light and sunny while maintaining a mysterious,
tall-dark-and-handsome voice (think "Monster Mash"), The Love
Lights transition right into the next track,
Owls
,
which features peppered drum beats and Rolling Stone-esque
"hoo-hoo" chants.
Not all songs follow that peppy path through the seventies,
though. Take
Crushing You and Me
, which carries a slower, more
soulful and cryptic tune. (Maybe it's not coincidence after all
that the creators share their name with a dramatic 1920's film.)
These quirky vocals and sprightly horn solos come from a diverse cast of seven who put on a flashy and heartfelt show, pulling out classic rock 'n' roll skills on the guitar, bass and drums, a trio of brass (double trumpets and a baritone sax) and an evenly balanced blend of emotional and playful lyrics.
Sometimes serious, mostly bubbly, The Love Lights are a bright bunch of shagadelic artists who definitely know how to have a good time.
Additional Tracks:
Get to Me
Communication Shakedown

