Review:'Lightness of Being, The' 'Diversions (EP)'
- Genre: 'Rock'
- Release Date: '1st June 2018'
Our Rating:
If I had 50p for ever band who listed Queen of the Stone Age in their reference points, I’d be minted. But, not being paid owt for sifting through a hundred or more new releases a week, I just have a lot of CDs and downloads from bands influenced by QOTSA. TLOB also pull Mastodon, Deftones and At The Drive-In into their sphere of influence, to create a sound they claim is ‘atmospheric, hefty and engulfing’.
I was fully braced to take these guys to talk over their literary pretentions and obvious touchstoning, but, for a change, it’s not simply hyperbole. ‘Bottomfeeder’ has a gritty, grindy intro that paves the way for some searing discord which squalls over some serious low-end thunder. The vocals are sneering, throaty, and the guitars are dirty, and it all pivots on a nasty riff powered by focussed aggression. We’re in the kind of territory marked by Fudge Tunnel and early Therapy? here.
‘Cave’ is initially more accessible, more melodic, but it carries a melancholy edge that makes the sonic explosion that hits two-thirds of the way in even more impactful. I’m a sucker for a slow-burner that hits the pedal for a climactic finale, so it’s inevitably going to get my vote, as is the driving, dingy rock-out that is ‘Refute’. The nagging groove is key, but so’s the gnarly edge, which evokes the spirit of Groop Dogdrill mashed with the dirty swagger of Henry Blacker.
It’s not quite grunge, and it’s by no means populist rock. It’s darker, grimier, and kicks some serious arse.
