Who could have thought that after the pause of 11 years that THE LILLINGTONS could not only come back, but release one of the best melodic punkrock albums this year. Released under the wings of Fat Wreck Chords, this album contains 12 songs.
The new material is in my opinion a bit different from the old stuff, the song structures are a bit more complicated and I think that the band brought some new influences in their songmaking. The opener “Golden Dawn/Knights Templar” just blew me away. It might be only me, but I heard some NWOBHM influences in “Insect Nightmares”. Also, I heard some of The Misfits in “London Fog”. The mainman Kody sings better than ever and the anthemic choruses and harmonies on the backing vocals made goosebumps on my skin. The opening melody of “Zodiac” is outstanding and this song is absolutely one of the highlights on this album that has no weak spot. I would love and I am hoping that I will catch these guys live somewhere somehow. Definitely a winner!
Prior to listening to this record that came out on Felony Records, I have never heard about Bear.
This band is hailing from California and they are playing a mixture of melodic hardcore and punkrock. The album consists of intro plus eight tracks. After the instrumental intro the opener “Tales of Government Fuckups” is not a fast song, but it is a beautiful melodic slow song with political lyrics. There are a couple of more faster upbeat hardcore songs on the record like “Anytown, USA” or “Ready or Not”. The song structures are interesting, having shifts in rythm and melody, but they are never boring. The vocals are melodic, but not cheesy, rather shouted and sung at the same time. As I said, the whole album is pretty political and the lyrics are awesome. My personal favourite of the album is for sure “Mission Accomplished” and I listened to it a couple of times in a row. This is an awesome melodic hardcore punk record, so check it out! Also, if feel like it, check other Felony Record releases, because they have a couple of awesome bands out there.
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