Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 04/05/2005
Lost City Angels' 2002 debut showed promise, even if it started repeating itself about halfway through. But what the Boston-based
punk revivalists lack in songwriting depth they make up for in on-stage sweat, and lots of touring since the self-titled effort has hardened the edges of 2005's
Broken World. It's the band's first for a major -- the
Universal imprint
Stay Gold -- but
LCA haven't broken out the checkbooks, synthesizers or session players. Aided by the veteran Boston production team of
Paul Q. Kolderie and
Sean Slade, they commit to making their second chapter truer and more gripping than the first. The choruses of
"Liberation" and
"Final Wish" are street-punk-informed while
"Pretty War" is hyper and ragged, falling somewhere between blustery
hardcore and a
Turbo AC's switchblade smile.
Lost City Angels are still young, so their
punk aesthetic does occasionally skid on to the
emo/whatever axis.
"Buried Dreams" is a
pop-
punk power
ballad, while other tracks layer in a
screamo-type supporting vocal that sounds out of place with
Broken World's more straightforward sounds. But these missteps aren't frequent. Much stronger are tracks like
"I'm Trying" and
"Faithless on the Floor," where the influence of
Social Distortion and
Rancid is strong. Vocalist
Ron Ragona lives beyond his years in black eyes and hard promises, and the
Angels back him up with blistering instrumentation.
"Tonight's the Night" is a raucous highlight -- it could be vintage
Angelic Upstarts doing American
hardcore. Another standout is
"Clutching at Shadows," where the ever-gruff
Ragona trades lines with Boston
punk-scene sweetheart
Stephanie Dougherty.
Lost City Angels are still figuring it out, but
Broken World is a great step towards toughness and purity. You can tell they aren't faking it.
~Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
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