Propaganda - The Lake Lurkers
Usually when I hear of solo EPs I expect noodly lead guitar and weird jazz chords that give me a headache just thinking about, mixed and ‘mastered’ in logic before being excreted into the labyrinthine depths that are Facebook, never to be heard of again. However, when George Linley, aka The Lake Lurkers, approached me about reviewing his I knew it wouldn’t be. George is an old friend of mine, former guitarist of Leeds-based Avenoir and winner/finalist of Martin House Children’s Hospice-run ‘Centre Stage’ battle of the bands competition, which was THE big deal for young musicians in bands back in the day. Basically I’m trying to say he’s cool. If you want to go ahead and listen along with this review then you can find Propaganda here.
Totalitarischism
After wrestling my sister for my Spotify account I drew my curtains, found my best headphones and gave the first track of the record a listen, which I’ve had to triple spell-check. Immediately I grasped the vibe; big, angry drums and fuzzy guitar were more than enough to give me an idea of his deep-rooted grunge and punk inspirations. The chorus lyrics gave me a strong Nirvana kick which, despite needing a bit more flow, put a smile on my face and, more than anything, made me proud that George had given it a good go, keeping stylistically and lyrically appropriate. The structure of this track is simple and effective making for easy listening and, although I’m not an expert, the mix was comfortable and I couldn’t pick out any parts that seemed unnatural.
Smoke Screen
To say I enjoy skilful use of guitar feedback is an understatement, so this track ticked that box for me from the start. I also found myself increasingly impressed by the use of dynamic parts. The rhythm guitar and drums are a driving force throughout and are complimented well by haunting lead in the background. The angry drums return and alternate between slow grooves and fast, rage-fueled punk beats. I’d say this track is the heaviest on the EP, blurring the line between punk and metal.
Human Progress
The last track was definitely my favourite, beginning with a groovy bassline and percussion before crashing into a fast punk-style interlude. George uses some effects on his voice in the verses this time improving the vocal impact. The octave-bass, repetitive riffs and droning lead gave me big Rage Against the Machine vibes and that’s before I even mention the cowbell. All the cowbells please. In the second half of the track there is a bridge section featuring a speech, discussing political ideas in the form of independence and firming up the theme of the album as a whole. The combination of this and the drop in dynamics until a subtle build at the end creates a fantastic lead into a breakdown that I can picture being brutal live. The song ends with the same motif that it begins with.
Propaganda
As whole I was massively impressed by the quality of the song-writing and the instrumentation. Sometimes it can be easy to distinguish guitar tones or programmed drums in newer artists’ music, but this time I couldn’t tell whether it was done this way or recorded in a studio. I personally find the genre very relatable and knew I would enjoy it from hearing the first song. I do feel like the songs were held back by the vocals however, as the instrumentation is so effective, it sometimes feels as though they were an afterthought. The angry vibes of the music needed some high range to really bring out the aggression behind the lyrics and thick guitars, so development in that area would be wonderful to hear as it really is the only thing missing for me. The Lake Lurkers are on Spotify and are definitely worth a listen. Thanks to George for getting in touch, I hope you’re happy with this.
Links
Propaganda EP
The Lake Lurkers
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