Law Found Guilt

Me Decade

Written by: TL on 09/11/2009 16:08:54

Law Found Guilt is the name of an Austrian four piece, whose second album "Me Decade" was recently sent to us for review. The promotional material - to which I must resort because I never heard of the band before - speaks of a group of friends who are "Influenced by the likes of BoySetsFire, Snapcase and Thursday" and who "takes up melodic punk rock baton and runs with it".

BSF and Thursday huh? Those are some pretty awesome names to drop as far as influences comes, sadly however, I'm finding it hard to hear the sound of either band in most parts of "Me Decade". Rather I'd sooner describe LFG as a very melodic, alternative rock band, who only occasionally spice things up with elements from punk and/or post-hardcore. The former contributes with the up-beat drum patterns upon which most of the songs are played, and the latter with some rough, jagged guitar riffs. However, the omission of post-hardcore's extremely dynamic breaks, and the extremely scarce use of the harsher of LFG's two vocalists, makes me doubt to which extent the band can really be affiliated with either genre.

This would be largely inconsequential though, if the band had managed to craft an entirely awesome album, jam-packed with memorable tracks. That however, is also at least a stone's throw from the truth; mainly because "Me Decade" is that all too familiar kind of record which establishes a solid enough sound, but doesn't incorporate enough variety to really embed those song titles in your memory. Just as was the case with the review just prior to this one, the singer also bears part of the blame. Despite singing proficiently and confidently enough, he simply doesn't have enough character in his voice to breathe identity into the lyrics, especially not when compared to the singers of the bands that LFG claim as inspirations.

As is often the case though, that's not to say that this is a poor album. It isn't, in fact I've quite enjoyed having it spinning in the background, as its fast tempos, occasional breaks and melodic choruses are sure to make you feel like rocking out. The thing is just that when it's all over and done, there's not enough texture here to keep you coming back to the record at a later date, and it's a shame, especially when one contemplates what could have been, had the dual-vocal range, which the PR material also boasts of, been used more. Had those screams and harmonies not been tucked away so solidly in the background, maybe they could've helped make more of an impact? I guess we won't know that, at least until LFG put out another album, one which hopefully sees them up the ambition a bit.

6

Download: The Air I Breathe, Undo Plasty, Lost In Confrontation
For The Fans Of: Funeral For A Friend, Tribute To Nothing, The Blackout Argument,
Listen: myspace.com/lawfoundguilt

Release Date 06.11.2009
Lockjaw Records

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