Damn! I love this album. This is the looooooong awaited new material from Operation Ivy frontman and punk icon Jesse Michaels, and let me just say that it was well worth the wait. LWR takes elements of reggae, 70's street punk, 60's rock and roll, and lightning quick lyrics,to make one of the best smorgasborgs of music I've heard in a while. Mass Gorgioni(from Sqirtgun) plays bass and Dan Lumley(Screeching Weasel and Riverdales) does the drumming. There are also plenty of saxophone solos, backing organs and even some backing vocals by a couple of the Teen Idols.

The first track, "Classics of Love", sets the tone for the entire album, with its reggae groove, punk rock raps, and rockin chourus. The best songs are the incredibly catchy punk tunes "Heatseekers" and "True Rulers", the reggae gems "Rough Redemption" and "Walk to the River", and "Deep Spring" a quick little mellow ditty that is so different from anything else on the album, it seems to fit right in. There's even an unlisted track at the end, which reminds me of 60's country/acoustic rock (but it's supprisingly good!). The lyrics are in the same vein as OpIv, promoting love and unity for everyone, while remaining as poetic and socially relevant as they were in '89. Comparrisons to The Clash, Sublime, and OpIv can be made, but the album is completley original. The only bad thind is that it may wear out your cheap-ass CD player.-

MArktheShark