06 April 2011

LEFT LANE CRUiSER - junkyard speedball kills!

       Reading reviews for the new LLC while waiting for the mailman to drop Junkyard Speed Ball in my lucky mailbox, was an interesting exercise.  It seems there's a lot of weaktitsuckingscaredycatpussybabies out there who think Ft. Wayne's sky is falling because LLC is stretching out their legs and junque.  I tell you what, haters and hiney biters, y'all need to bust back into yr mama's L7 where it's safe, cozy, and cuddly, where nobody challenges yr earholes perceptions of what rocks and what doesn't.  Go back to your darling early White Stripes albums where King Jack was making music about, and writing lyrics for ( as he mentioned in an interview ) ten year olds ( not that there is anything wrong with that ).  This new Left Lane Cruiser is made of grown up grooves, burly sounds and hollers for the big folks. 
      I don't know if Brenn and Joe have been in the tour van gettin' Experienced and listening to old worn out tapes of Skynyrd and early Nugent, Let It Bleed-era Stones or maybe even Cursed Diamond by Black Crowes or what, but something has sparked a change...a sonic expansion...a deepening of the thing that is LLC.  And i'm loving it.  It's heavier, thicker and more soulful than previous work, yet still the utterly righteous, filthy and holy Fat Possum t-shirt rockin', worn down boot stompin' blues of Left Lane Cruiser we know and love. 
     Detroit producer Jim Diamond (The Dirt Bombs, White Stripes, James Leg) buffed the LLC blast to a classic, afferent, and massive arena rock luster while keeping the Indiana dust and diamond grit and road patina intact.   Certainly a modicum of credit for that vibe also goes to the addition of the Muscle Shoals organ of James Leg (Black Diamond Heavies) on four tracks. Brother (and label mate) Leg adds a whole new dimension to the LLC's stomp and pound sound and as a result, Joe's slide work has never been more moving.  I'm guessing that's a direct result of playing off of James Leg's Church of Allman keys work.  Brenn's always been a thrilling and totally committed drummer, the type of dude who'd pound 'til he kicked if it served the song.  But, as with Joe there is an extra deep swing this time out.  Not to suggest that LLC lacked any of this previously, they've always been a very tight, sexy wicked dirty blues infected beast, a three headed blues hydra, if you will.  Left Lane Cruiser's musical growth and expansion, conjoined with a Hi-er-Fi'd production, and a hard thoughtful attack bring all elements together to cause the stars to align and explode all over Junkyard Speed Ball. GET iT!

File Under: Ass Pocket of Feel Good Hit Of The Summer (so far).

 Left Lane Cruiser @ Alive Records // Facebook // MySpace // iTunes // Amazon 




1 comment:

Halkaloogie said...

I haven't read any reviews except yours but I have had the album for a little over a month and have a slightly different view. I don't hear this "big change" to adulthood you speak of I hear the same LLC but mixed an a very flat affectation. I hear all the feeling of the previous albums but somehow a lot of the subtlety has been removed. I hadn't quite nailed it down until you mentioned it was done by Jim Diamond and it all made sense. It was mixed by a person who has an ear for soul (A good possibly even great ear for soul), and as such there was a lot of compression added to soften the edges hence ridding the final project of a little of the soul that it projected by LLC.
Just my 2 cents but I believe this would have been an amazing record and still could if remixed by another set of ears (no offense to Jim).