Album Review: Project 313 by The Lillingtons (by Robyn Pierce)

Huzzah! The Lillingtons are back in action with a brand new EP, Project 313, released on 9 June via Red Scare. This Ramones-channelling four-piece from Newcastle, Wyoming haven’t had a major release since 2006 and they’re easily one of the best pop-punk bands in the scene, so I was really stoked to check out their new material – even if it is just four (sob) short tracks.

The opening track, ‘Under the Sun’, wastes no time getting your toes tapping and your hips swaying with some bright guitar tone and a catchy hook. The lyrics are a little dark, with the verses lamenting how “it’s been raining everyday” and how the band would like to “wish it all away”, but the chorus is hopeful – looking to the sunshine that is sure to come. This soon leads into ‘Rubber Room’, which is such a hilariously happy and fun song that I honestly can’t get enough of it. It’s essentially a daydream about finally giving in, going insane and getting to live in your own rubber room – and how fantastic this would be. The entire song has a gleeful, manic energy and is really like a trip to the rubber room in itself – a slightly bonkers escape from daily pressures and anxieties. It reminds me a little of Direct Hit’s ‘Paid in Brains’, but it is absolutely a quintessential Lillingtons’ song. In ‘Project 313’, the Lillingtons offer a return to the familiar realm of science fiction with a song about being stranded on a rocket. It’s short and sweet, despite being a midtempo track with a quite a gloomy theme. ‘It’s On’ rounds off the EP brilliantly by adding a dash of perfectly coiffed hair metal to the Lillingtons’ sound. It’s about a femme fatale – an alluring and dangerous woman who, the band warns us, is ‘the devil’s child’. The driving guitar here will get your body rocking, and the slight fuzziness in Kody’s vocals really works.

I’m fairly certain that it’s physically impossible not to hit replay once you get to the end of ‘Project 313’. With less than 10 minutes of music, it’s tough not to feel slightly starved and gagging for more once you get to the end of its four outstanding tracks. I can loop this EP almost infinitely, so I definitely recommend giving it a listen.

Stream and download Project 313 here: https://thelillingtons.bandcamp.com/album/project-313

Like The Lillingtons here: https://www.facebook.com/TheLillingtons/

This review was written by Robyn Pierce.