- THE LAWNDALE LOWDOWN -

Music and what i think about it... Email your bands e.p [email protected]

[thelawndalelowdown]

- LOBBY BOXER INTERVIEW -

Lobby Boxer released the 3 track e.p "Teddy" in the summer of last year and its just flawless. I personally can't fault it, the vocals are gritty and filled with emotion and the musicianship on the record is stunning and the overall production is spot on! I figured why do you need me to explain why it's incredible and why you will love it. 

However i wanted to find out why it's only 3 tracks long ? 

So i threw the guys a few questions and here is what they said ! 

1. How we all doing? How you all feeling about the band ? 

 Everything is going great! In just under a year we've shared the stage with bands like The World Is..., Dads, Old Gray, Perfect Future, Cute Is What We Aim For, Turnover, and many others! Things are moving way faster than we anticipated (which is definitely a good thing)!

2. What insprised the name "Lobby Boxer" ?Have any of you actually taken part in what the name suggests?

We were kinda just throwing out combinations of various words that sounded cool. We were almost "Orchard Army," but Lobby Boxer just had a certain ring to it. It also reminds me a lot of the time I fought a kangaroo in an underground Wisconsin fighting circuit.

3. Your e.p is fantastic I must say! Any reason why there is only 3 tracks on it?

Thanks a lot! Three was the magic number for us. At the time, we felt they were our three strongest tracks. Money was also a factor, but we didn't want to rush the writing process. It all boiled down to wanting our music available in a high quality medium, and Teddy was the result.

4. Whats the plan for you guys this year? Are we gunna be getting another e.p?

2014 is gonna be a good year, that much is certain! We are going into the studio for a week in March to record our new 5 track EP (no title yet), and we're extremely excited to show you what we've concocted over these past couple months. In addition to that, we're planning a summer tour across the midwest US. Though this all seems far away, keep in mind, our song "Anxiety" will be featured on a 4 way split through Save Your Generation Records, and will be available for download on our Bandcamp soon!

5. What's the writing process like for you guys? does someone come in with a full song? Or is it more of a jam it out situation?

Typically, Zach will come up with a riff (sometimes arrange an entire song), pitch it to Andrew and I, and we'll build off of that. Once we're content with a song, we go back and try to add in small details to improve the song. Zach will write lyrics and arrange vocals once we have the song laid out, then we practice the hell out of it until it's burnt into our brains backwards and forwards!

6. What bands are you listening to at the moment? What release are you most looking forward to this year?

Defeater, Title Fight, Basement, Special Explosion, Foxing (the hometown heroes), Caspian, The Wonder Years, The Mars Volta, The Album Leaf, You Blew It!, Modern Baseball, Old Gray, And So I Watch You From Afar, Animals as Leaders, American Football, Brand New, Citizen, etc. You name it, we'll listen to it.

7. You are from the states but you post often on what once was "UK EMO". Do you find you get a better response over here for your music or over in the states?

The UK Emo page overall is really fun to be a part of. The random threads, Brand New arguments, and general appreciation for new music made it hard not to fall in love with the community. The response was similar to the States, but there were just WAY more people in the UK Emo page that responded to each post, which was really awesome!

8. Anything you would like to add? Things we should all know about you guys that we probably dont?

Just be on the lookout for new music! We're hoping to go far this year, and we appreciate all the support!

Well looks like i got my answer and i believe i'm not the only one excited for their new material ! 

Go listen/download "Teddy" for free now !

http://lobbyboxer.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LobbyBoxerStL

[thelawndalelowdown]

- LSP - Still E.P -

This E.P is stupidly fucking good ! 

Completely unexpected and fucking stellar!

"The Summer Went" had me straight away i honestly didn't care how good the rest of the E.P was. I played this track over and over. The lyrics are spot on, extremely descriptive and very powerful, the execution of these lyrics is on point with the level of the words themselves. The music behind only further increases my belief that this band took a very long time crafting this song, every little piece placed to create a exact embodiment of the songs meaning.

"Rhubarb" yeah, ok, so we know these guys can play guitar this just furthers are knowledge that they can fucking play. The song as a whole is lovely, crafted well and keeps pumping away, it keeps you listening because you can never be sure where it is going to go next. That is something i appreciate highly and is needed in the genre.

"Ambulance" is powerful, it hits home hard and it's nice that the vocalist isn't putting on some fake american accent in the spoken word parts. Yeah that's right they nailed spoken word. The drums pound away and his vocals stretch over the top, you can hear the tear in his vocal chords as he begins to shout them, and then it drops off to a single guitar, breaking the song up and almost giving you some relief before it drops back in once again. I could continue to describe how well done this song is but just listen for yourself, seriously do it !

"Alreet" it just ends its perfectly showing off everything they have proved they can do in the earlier tracks and that's it i'm done. There is not point me trying to tell you how damn good this is, just listen and fall in love with it yourself.

http://lspband.bandcamp.com/album/still

https://www.facebook.com/LSPBand

http://dstmpromotions.bigcartel.com/product/dstm021-lsp-rip-cassette-tape

[thelawndalelowdown]

- Breaking Glass - Self Titled E.P -

So this is nice...

I mean what is it we are hearing here ? Is this something new and fresh? Not really but that shouldn't write it off completely it's not bad listening ! 

"Right Beside Me" has a lovely little guitar intro with the classic (slightly expected) reverse cymbal into a big drop with soaring vocals and big guitars. It drops down to a nice little verse part, the guitars sound lovely and the dude has a hell of a voice. It then goes into the big soaring chorus and drops back down into the verse once again. The lyrics didn't hit me especially but they are well crafted and fit the song perfect.

"Won't Give Up" follows a similar route to the first song it's a anthem it's got the pop punk guitar tones and kinda just swings away the whole way through a good filler for the e.p

"Turn & Run" has an intro i've heard so many times build up, pic slide and drop. You can guess the rest it fits the bill of the E.P and works well.

"Doubts" from the intro it had me hoping that i wasn't gunna hear the same thing i had heard last 3 songs and it did. Nice and slow showing more of the bands dynamic capabilities and ability to not write a song and then repeat the same formula. This song was my highlight of the whole E.P. If the whole thing consisted of songs more like this it wouldn't just be wrote off as "another pop punk anthem band".

Sadly though for me it was another pop punk anthem band. Don't write it off it's got its high points and was a decent listen.

http://breakingglassuk.bandcamp.com/album/breaking-glass

[thelawndalelowdown]

- BOUVIER - SELF TITLED E.P -

I am so damn glad i found this E.P.

More bands are needed like this in the UK, we can do fuzzy shoegaze and we can do it well, and this is proof ! 

The whole E.P just washes over you and then floats away.

"Waning" rides a constant wave the whole way through but keeps you surfing along said wave with it. The instrumentation is wonderful and reminded me a great deal of early " Sonic Youth", the strong guitar chords and the constant thudding bass line, backed up by a drum part which couldn't be more perfect for the song. The vocals are very well done and don't over dominate the song (which i was worried about). It's a very simple song and a great opener.

"Oh" is a very subtle song to begin with, but it kicks into a big noisy section which for my liking isn't long enough, it doesn't feel like it gets going. However they justify this by going into a slow, almost faded outro. Personally if the noise would of continued further i feel this song would of been a good testament to the genre. 

A " Sonic Youth" style free jam brings us into the third track "Glue", with a perfect little reverb soaked guitar shimmer gliding through before the vocals come in. The thing i like about this band is how melancholy it all sounds, the vocals are drunn and low and the music just drones along with it. My wish also came true with a section in this song, an incredible amount of delayed feedback creating a beautiful noisy base for the rest of the instruments to play over, absolutely nailed it with the use of "noise" in this song.

The E.P ends on a lovely note with "Honeymoons" just more proof these guys know how to do what they proved in the earlier tracks! It's drunn and it's solid all the way through. The riff at the begging is lovely aswell, i love the guitar tone on this whole record i must say ! 

Give it a download ! It's free !

https://bouvier.bandcamp.com/album/bouvi-r

https://www.facebook.com/bouvierband

[thelawndalelowdown]

- BEACH SKULLS - A DIFFERENT KIND OF SMOOTH -

1. Beach Skulls what a fucking awesome name 

2. " A Different Kind Of Smooth" is a good enough description of this E.P within it's self.

3. I'm in love 

A couple of Lo-Fi Surf romantics doing the genre justice. The whole Lo-Fi thing is being throw around all over the place over the last couple of years, and for me i lost interest because everyone was doing it or claiming there record was "Lo-Fi". This release however has restored my faith.

Straight away the first track had me swooning all over the place, perfect guitar tones with little incidental stabs, the drums just roll along perfectly and the vocals just float over the top beautifully. It's pure romance that makes you yearn for summer with some pretty little thing on your arm. 

"U Were Mine" had a "santo and johnny" feel to it from the start with the lead guitar line, the harmonies as they sing "U Were Mine" is enough to make anyone believe they were. It's slow, it's groovy and will continue making you swoon in a similar fashion to the first track. 

As i reached "Looking From The Water" i wasn't expecting any big surprises, just more of a chance for me to be self - indulgent in the newly formed fantasy this record had created in my head. It's made me feel like the coolest cat in town. The chorus totally ruined me and had me doing some sort of strange jig, it gets you singing along instantly, with the little stop and drop back in. Absolutely excellent.

"Grim That" is an excellent ender after jigging all the way through the last track, this song had me relaxing perfectly. Some lovely guitar work and incredible use of reverb, just floats all around you and ended the record perfectly for me. These boys really know what they are doing.

This E.P is fantastic, if you wanna feel cool or wanna re-swoon your lady wack this on, it's a testament to the genre, showing that some people still know what it's all about. Romance is not dead, and there certainly is " A Different Kind of Smooth" and i'm completely on board.

http://cheesuscrustrecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-different-kind-of-smooth-ep

https://www.facebook.com/beachskulls.yo

[thelawndalelowdown]

- THROWING STUFF / BOSTON MANOR SPLIT-

Two bands you wouldn't expect to be on a split together. 

Throwing Stuff with their thrashy punk energy.

Boston Manor with their carefully crafted post-hardcore/pop punk belters.

Straight away though on a first listen it seems to fit perfectly and is a fantastic split.

Throwing Stuff are first band up and as soon as you hear the intro to  "Five Pound Beers" you can completely understand what this band is about, a bunch of dudes having a good time making some fast music to party too. This first song kicks you right in the teeth and sets the mood straight away, its fast, it's meant to be played loud and by the sounds of it the best way for that too be achieved is having them play it in your front room ! The second song "Token Beef" has that classic early hardcore intro, the guitars swell along with the drums, something to get your head bobbing aggressively straight away. One thing i love about this band is the vocals, holy shit that dude sounds far too angry, it bites at your eardrums its incredibly unsettling (in a good way). The guitar tone on their side is just right for the riffs they are belting out. The bass tone is perfect, the break in "Token Beef" is one of my highlights due to this tone being so god damn badass, along with the second break where the drums and bass chug along together. Throwing Stuff fucking nailed their side, im extremely picky when it comes too anything thrashy but this had everything it needed to impress me, watch out for these guys and go to a show if you can i'm sure it's an experience in it's self.

Boston Manor's side of the split is extremely powerful in a completely different way. 

First song "July" kicks in nicely with a good riff and lovely bit of drums, so you are thinking ok cool sounds good but then the vocals come in. Christ on a bike that dude can wail, i hate to compare but it's very early Mike Duce, we're talking Far Q and i'm sure the lead singer of Boston Manor is not a douche. As a song it's decent, all the sections you would expect, all crafted the way you would expect, all the tones are spot on for the genre and it's recorded and mixed very well. However "Wolf" in my ears is a much more passionate track a killer set of lyrics only made more formidable by that voice, it hits hard. Structure wise it is similar but the guitar work is superior, dropping it down to an acoustic section with a reverb soaked gang vocal was the touch it needed to make it a brilliant song. The end set of vocals combined with the instrumentation well shit, it couldn't of been matched any better, everything comes at you with a tonne of force. This side of the split is fantastic showing that not all "pop punk" has too sound the same.

I loved it and you will too ! 

https://soundcloud.com/punktastic/sets/boston-manor-throwing-stuff

https://www.facebook.com/bostonmanoruk

https://www.facebook.com/throwingstuff