Showing posts with label *Love American. Show all posts
Showing posts with label *Love American. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Love American - 2012 Disquiet


Band : Love American
Album :  Disquiet
Release Year : 2012
Genre : Post-Hardcore | Screamo
 
Tracklist :
1. Waves
2. Dead Eyes Open
3. Memo
4. All That Is Lost In That Which Is Found
5. Sink Your Teeth
6. Lives Well Worn
7. Metastasis
8. Disquiet

Disquiet, despite being released a little over a year after the band’s self-titled EP, marks a dramatic shift in the band’s sound. Retaining the same post-hardcore/screamo mixture seen in bands like Pianos Become the Teeth and Envy, Love American is relatively still the same band, but it has made a lot of strides to maturate its sound. Most notable is the new vocalist, Adam Thomas, who was and still is the lead guitarist. His gruff and crass style feels welcome here, sharing similarities with vocals from Suis La Lune. Another change comes in the form of Thomas yet again, but this time in regards to his guitar playing. While his work on Love American was impressive as hell, it did little to expand the band’s sound. Ultimately felt unrefined at times, sounding like Thomas Erak, but without genuinely feeling a part of the music. However, on Disquiet, Thomas and Hans truly shine. Instead of feeling like a gimmicky coating, the guitar work here feels absolutely vital. Less time is spent in the forefront which goes a long way in making his work seem like an organic and natural component.

In regards to songwriting, Love American has brought a lot to the table this time around. Opening up with “Waves,” said song hearkens back to a very dramatic sound employed by bands such as Envy and Funeral Diner. The song starts off with a slow, atmospheric tremolo picked section and slowly swells into a bolder, vocal heavy portion. Stephen, the bassist and Ryan the drummer also shine here, as their inputs give the song even more vibrancy. The remainder of the record actually contains an impressive amount of variation. Shifting between bouts of standard hardcore and atmospheric emo, Disquiet features a bevy of different sounds, but feels wholly cohesive. Even the extended instrumental portions are played off as completely necessary, culminating in an admirably well thought out record.

As the Love American’s debut full-length, Disquiet is a glowing success. The changes in style and presentation have paid off in spades, and the album is very lively and exciting thanks to some very smart songwriting choices. The production could be better, as every so often a muddy section rears its head, but this in no way detracts from the overall experience. With each EP and split, Love American has been hinting at true greatness, and here it has arrived. -Eli K. (sputnikmusic)
 
BUY! 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Love American & Harbours - 2011 Split


Band : Love American & Harbours
Album : Split
Release Year : 2011
Genre : Hardcore | Post-Hardcore | Screamo

Tracklist :
01 Love American - Kayfabe
02 Love American - Olde English Hearts
03 Harbours - Promises
04 Harbours - Untitled

When you compare Love American and Harbours on paper, they really aren’t that different. Both are California DIY hardcore bands, trying their damndest to make something of themselves, other than concert-goers and college students of course. But deeper than that they are two bands pounding the SoCal hardcore circuit, playing shows, and writing songs that they should be proud of. This split marks the last studio appearance of Javier Ramirez for Love American and yet another solid outing for Harbours.

Harbours
Since Harbours and Love American don’t differ in style that much, they made a perfect match for a split. Matt’s screams are exactly the same quality found on their EP from earlier this year. Matching riff for riff, Harbours create a searing sound as Matt screams over pounding drums in the end of “Promises”. The other song for Harbours song doesn’t quite hold the energy that the previous one did. “Untitled” seems to focus more on the buildup and instrumental of the song rather than intensity of the previous one, drawing from the post rock area of screamo.

Love American
Whether it was because of the lengthy production put into the album or the inevitable departure of Javier, one cannot be sure, but Love American’s side of the split is the stronger of the two. Most notably on “Kayfabe”, Javier’s vocals have been fine tuned into perfect screams. The guitar melody throughout the song and the drum fills at the end make for the strongest song on this split. On the second song of Love American’s side, Javier again dominates and leads the song, with the guitars chugging for a heavier post-hardcore beat.

Let’s be honest; these are two of the best DIY hardcore bands that California has to offer at the moment. The split holds Love American’s best material and another solid pair of songs from Harbours. They’ve created an exciting, enthralling record that should shoot to the top of the hardcore albums list for 2011. Not only is there a bright future for these bands, but this split should be exactly what they need to launch them past their base of underground fans. -Joseph Toeben

Facebook :

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Love American - 2011 Love American


Band : Love American
Album : Love American
Release Year : 2011
Genre : Post-Hardcore | Screamo | Progressive
 
Tracklist :
1. Where's My Cash, Johnny?
2. Keep The Wes Dream Alive
3. Alabama Fucked Up
4. Miles Davis
5. Legendary Birds
6. Then/Than

There’s nothing a band can do sexier than picking the perfect influences for their sound, and Love American displays the Californians’ knack for this. They list Hot Cross, Thursday, and Pianos Become the Teeth as their influences, but I’ll be damned if I don’t hear a little Suis La Lune-style foreign screamo or 90’s Jawbox-esque post-hardcore thrown in the mix. Please excuse the superfluous name-dropping, but it provides a nice segway to the point that Love American’s ever-present influences are just as much a strength as they are a weakness. Nevertheless, Love American is a surprisingly solid debut from a band overflowing with the potential to release something truly spectacular.

At a mere six songs, Love American needed to use their time wisely on their self-titled EP. Thankfully, they do just that as Love American is a fairly balanced act. Its more compelling points lie at the beginning and end, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a let-up in energy throughout the uptempo affair. “Keep The Wes Dream Alive,” a monument to the band’s knack for virtuoso songwriting, displays their ability to noodle between drastically different moods and tempos while remaining fluid. In doing so, pinning down Love American to a specific genre is a no-go, with their array of influences showing so blatantly. Still, while it never quite reaches the grating point of “derivative,” as I’m happy to say, I can’t help but wish Love American had made this sound their own a tad more-- something that seems perfectly within reach should they expand to an LP format.

If there’s one noteworthy aspect throughout, it’s the consistency of the ragged, roaring vocals. Performed by Javier Ramirez, the screaming is a tour de force, unrelenting and fervent. One thing I found intriguing about them is Ramirez’s clarity to complement the raggedness in his screaming, a trait too often lacking in most modern screamo. “Then/Than” displays Ramirez ceasing momentarily, only to share the stage with Natalie Diaz, of Modern American Theatre, to provide an unexpected female presence to the EP’s catchiest track. The six songs at hand have enough striking, singular moments to impress again and again (that riff in “Where's My Cash, Johnny?” needs a shoutout somewhere in this review), but I’m hesitant to proclaim that Love American have done a truly outstanding job at owning this sound they’ve carved out for themselves; rather than, say, “Yeah, Love American does a fantastic job of blending Band A and Band B there.” Still, it’s imperative we return to this notion of potential.

Why shouldn’t we, though?... Love American is practically bursting at the seams with excitement. Evidenced by some of the less-than-adequate mixing, the band isn’t quite putting their best work possible forward, here. Given some time to simmer and grow in all the right places, there will be (hopefully) nothing stopping Love American from creating the sophomore album they’re capable of. We’re given glimpses of it (namely on the penultimate track, “Legendary Birds,” and to a lesser degree, the closer), but this isn’t it. It’s heartening to know that the band’s difficulties and struggles here are situational-- an LP would have allotted more time to solidify their sound, better equipment would have allowed for fancier mixing. More outstanding than the small cracks in the pavement, though, are the reasons to be excited-- dynamic, fluid songwriting; fervent, impassioned vocals; and an instrumental section that can keep up with ease. Mark my words: be it just a buildup, Love American sounds like the buildup to something exciting, something we’ll be able to point to 3 years down the road and say, “That was great, but they’ve come so far...” For now though, Love American is an EP sufficient enough to let us revel in the present Love American, as well as look forward with eagerness to what Love American lies in the future-- more than a little like anticipating Spring break ’09, right?