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Life at These Speeds

Life at These Speeds [reissue] (2006)
Level Plane Records

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: colin
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on August 15th 2006

Justin asked me to write a review for this album. I said, "I don't know if that's possible, because it'd be a one-line review." Of course, that isn't really suitable, so I'll write a few more paragraphs...but all you really need to know is this: If you have any care at all for your ears, and if you know what is good for you, you will pick up this record immediately.

I was introduced to Life at These Speeds from a friend who convinced me to go to one of their shows here in Portland, claiming that they were one of the best bands out there today. I had a bit of trouble believing this, seeing as how, well, people are always gloating about one band or another being so great. Maybe it was my skepticism that did the trick, but these dudes blew me away. I picked up the album after the show and it's been in heavy rotation since.

So, I'll try to keep my subjective praise to a minimum here, and we'll see how that goes. This album is honest. It's pure. It bleeds the same blood as older punk rock and early (real) emo acts. There's as much honest Washington, D.C. sound on this as there is emo (back when emo was good and pure) influence. This is post-punk as everything it should be. There are sing-alongs (the breakdown to "Submerge") and there are balls-to-the-wall rockouts (the ending of the anthemic "Blindfold King"). There is enough energy to be authentic, and enough melody to be dramatic without entering the fringe of pop cliché. The songs are lengthy -- some breaking the five-minute mark -- but from start to finish, they grab your attention and do not let go. This album takes the time to tease your ears but always delivers with an unbelievable punch.

Lately, it seems there's a whole lot of distraction in punk rock music -- extra guitars, that annoying keyboard trend, layers of vocals and a verbose and 'full' sound to just about everything. And I'm not even talking about all the totally disposable music that claims to be punk; even in recent releases from established acts like Rise Against, AFI, and Anti-Flag we're hearing bands become attached to the little things. Part of the reason I love this record so much is that it's got an extremely subtle simplicity to it that still manages to carry your ears through each note. These guys just know how to make music.

If I were to have criticisms of this record, it would simply be that when I saw them live, the sound was incredibly full and dynamic, while the production on the record doesn't really drive home that punch. It does have an extremely DIY sound to it -- which is in no way a bad thing -- but at some times the vocals can get lost and the drums don't hit as hard as they potentially could.

So, there you go. The best I can do as far as looking at this record objectively goes. Subjectively speaking, this thing blows my mind. This is powerful, honest music from a band I can only imagine is going to blow up much beyond this relatively remote Portland scene.

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fritobandito (August 18, 2006)

definitely one of my favorite level plane releases. LATS isn't no City Of Caterpillar, but they certainly know how to get the fucking job done right. WOW.

SilentStorms (August 18, 2006)

My top 3 would be:

Ruhaeda - ST
Neil Perry - Disco
Saetia - Disco

I love this shit.

Anonymous (August 17, 2006)

Level Plane has SO many great release that it really is hard to just pick three. My top three would be:

North of America "Brothers, Sisters"
Hot Cross "New Set of Lungs"
Colisuem s/t

Anonymous (August 17, 2006)

Level Plane has SO many great release that it really is hard to just pick three. My top three would be:

North of America "Brothers, Sisters"
Hot Cross "New Set of Lungs"
Colisuem s/t

Anonymous (August 17, 2006)

There's loads of great releases but if i had to pick 3 it would be

Seatia- A Retrospective
Envy -A Dead Sinking Story
Hot Cross -Cryonics

As a fourth Id pick

Transistor Transistor- Erase All Name and Likeness

Anonymous (August 16, 2006)

Which three Level Plane releases would you recommend?

Anonymous (August 16, 2006)

Where were you in '52?

sirens (August 15, 2006)

all the octive lines just seem exactly like how raein over used them.

Anonymous (August 15, 2006)

"They sound like Raein/early La Quiete"

Hmm more Moss Icon / Indian Summer realy.

Inspection12e (August 15, 2006)

Great album.

Anonymous (August 15, 2006)

Life at These Speeds truly is one of the best bands out there today and this album is nothing short of brillant. Check out their split with Science of Yabra as that record is equally as amazing. For those of you on the board who live on Long Island they are playing this week the info is below. BTW I enjoyed the "link" that was provided.

deuces wild productions and rok lok records presents:
friday august 18th, 2006
@ smithtown masonic temple
6 o'clock sharp!, all ages!
8 bones

-Encrypt Manuscript (Tone Library, 1st long island
ho-down in more than a year!)

-Yes Sensei (Rok Lok Records, showcasing new material
from their upcoming new album!)

-Life At These Speeds (Level Plane Records, Amazing driving post punk. Think Drive Like Jehu meets Twelve Hour Turn)

-Con Amore (amazing female indie rock!)

-Algernon Cadwallader (Sweet Cap 'n Jazz-ish punk)

-Kitty Little (Art Of The Underground, on tour from
Albany, NY!)

smithtown masonic temple
34 river road
smithtown, ny [www.mapquest.com or
TheVocab21@aolcom for any further
information]

Anonymous (August 15, 2006)

I really wanna check these guys out but fuck there is just so much music.

- APK

sirens (August 15, 2006)

They sound like Raein/early La Quiete with more punk. eh. Most the stuff is in 4/4. Life in 4/4 would blow. Glad to see more of emo coverage on here.

Anonymous (August 15, 2006)

Another great real emo album.

kingofsuck (August 15, 2006)

I hear this band has attractive girls at its shows.

Haha

Anyway, this review has convinced me to check them out.

colin (August 15, 2006)

every time i read one of my reviews i notice something that i relied on too heavily. this time it was the em dash. sorry bout that.

but yeah this shit rocks.

SalsaShark (August 15, 2006)

I hear this band has attractive girls at its shows.

Anyways, I shall give this a listen.

inagreendase (August 15, 2006)

I just listened to one of their new songs and it sounds like a Guy Picciotto-led Fugazi track. Probably way different from this, but I dug it.

Fuzzy (August 15, 2006)

Thanks Colin.

This album is frighteningly good. I love impulse buys based on awesome artwork.