STILL SINGLE

A space for thoughts on music and culture, as written by Doug Mosurock and a select handful of individuals. This is intended as a supplement to our regular feature Still Single, published on Dusted Magazine. Updates will run here more frequently, and may feature writing on music not covered in the column. Compact discs are still not accepted for review -- we have more than enough vinyl and the occasional cassette to worry about.

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May 14, 2009

The Loners - Revolution! LP (Churchkey)

Loners LP

This inoffensive garage/hard-rock two-piece, with a full-length on a tiny label and released in a hand-numbered edition of 500, could be any number of innocuous “Rock is Back” hands played by the majors over the past ten years. There’s something honest about The Loners gleeful disregard for a decade’s worth of faux-garage boardroom creations found on X-station radio or 561-sponsor festival stages (in early-afternoon slots). Sadly, the hooks, imagination, and presentation are all deficient in that special way that almost exclusively warns of a terminally-local band. Revolution! is the obligatory yet ill-advised first and last jump over the city limits, bringing along a condensing and neutering of ‘90s and ‘00s hard/garage rock so complete, it’s practically an artistic achievement in and of itself. Songs like “Soul Shaker” (as in “I wanna be your…”) and “Crank it Up” are rare cases of mediocrity so acute it transcends the common idea of the term. Is this a weird new super-mediocrity that has yet to be discovered? Possibly. As for the cover art, even the members’ respective moms might find it impossible to get past an armed cartoon bunny bursting from “tripped-out” circa-Windows 95 clip art and the public domain trash-rock font. (www.churchkeyrecords.com)
(Andrew Earles)

3 years ago • 0 notes