Seattle Subsonic

Seeing The Lights

March 15th, 2010

It took over a decade, but the Lights have finally crafted their finest, most purposeful album yet. I loved the Suge Knight Sweetheart EP, was luke warm (unlike most) on Diamonds and Dirt, and haven’t yet been able to yank Failed Graves out of my stereo. Ok, so maybe that doesn’t comprise their entire discography, but for my purpose here today, it’ll suffice. Missoula’s DIY label—and Total Fest curator—Wäntage USA will have the album in stores April 26, but I was lucky enough to snag a copy after the trio’s fantastic show at the Funhouse a few weeks back. Watching the Lights willfully stagger on stage is more satisfying than digesting a record, but with Failed Graves, we finally get to see what the sloppy garage-punk band with the sinister rhythm section is really capable of.

.

This album is undoubtedly ramshackle, mostly due to Craig Chambers’ charming disregard for rock guitar “conventions” and PJ Rogalski’s adaptable drum skills. But bassist Jeff Albertson does a masterful job corralling it all together with some gritty and terrifically threatening undertones, particularly during combustible tracks “Deathless Distances” and “The Fixer”. I get the feeling that if a slipshod, wild-eyed posse of frontiersmen devised a sound rooted in late 70s punk and its early 80s aftermath, it might sound something like this. Loud, lonely, dirty and determined. Shards of guitar crash and splatter with unhinged abandon. Suddenly, the band’s Eastern Washington/Idaho roots make sense.

.

Chambers’ rudimentary sing/speak won’t appeal to everyone, but if you’re like me, his Bob Dylan-sounding wail on the conspicuously peppy “New New” should easily entertain. “Shoot the moon / but don’t kill it dead!” he warns in what might be my favorite line on the whole record. “Famous Gunshots” is a a tightly packed garage boogie that reminds me of a cross between the Black Lips and the Old Haunts. Albertson—who would sound perfect singing for a Minor Threat/Fugazi cover band—takes a few vocal turns of his own, most notably on “Puerto Escondido”. That one’s an ominous cowboy march if there ever was one: “I’ve been drinkin’ / I’ve been drownin’ in my blood / I’ve been sinkin’ / I’ve been tryin’ for your love”. And the metallic slow burn on “Ginerella” really simmers until the chorus busts through like an angry outlaw into a saloon.

.

Listen:

Famous Gunshots

Ginerella

Puerto Escondido

.

The Lights play the Crocodile this Thursday March 18th. $1 beers and free cupcakes: how can you miss it?