I first became aware of Canadian band Lost Love after seeing lead singer Guilhem Benard play acoustically at an all dayer headlined Red City Radio in London. I enjoyed his set but the stand out song was a version of a song by his band Lost Love. This encouraged me to check them out and I discovered that back in May the four piece released a brand new album named Good Luck Rassco on Stomp Records and Guerilla Asso.
Good Luck Rassco begins with the song Sexting Across America. Immediately it's the vocals that catch my attention on the song with their sharp and punchy delivery. Guilhem quickly has you in the palm of his hand as he takes you on a journey of self discovery, singing a song about going on an adventure to find out who you really are. The line "it's not about you, it's not about me, it's about who you wanna be" really does stand out and when sung along to feels super empowering. This is followed up by Are You Still Alive, You Dumb Phoque? I loved the beginning of the track with some truly joyous group vocal chant of "ba ba ba ba ba da". This hooks me straight away and has me wanting to see where the song goes. It's one of those interesting songs that content wise is kind of downbeat but is delivered in a way that you cannot help but smile along with. The good time vibes are brought down on the third song, Gospel Tabernacle. On the track it feels like Lost Love are holding things back. The combination of the jangly guitar and a deep dominating bass line is fantastic. There is more of an indie pop sound to the song than what we've heard so far. I loved the delightfully subtle harmonies that are sprinkled throughout the track.
Clay Turris' introduction is also dominated by bass. Guilhem sings the opening on the song in an angst-filled fashion but when the chorus hits the doom and gloom is instantly lifted. Lost Love seem like a band who excel in added contrasting sounds into their music. This style is a great metaphor for the song which is about covering up your true feelings by smiling. Pardon My French brings the tempo back up in spectacular fashion. It's about being told how to live your life by hypocrites – those people who preach about a how you should spend your time and then fail to do so themselves. For me this is one of the stand out tracks on Good Luck Rassco. I particularly enjoyed how the verses were basically a bullet point list of points and counterpoints. Sheriff Of St-Sandwich brings us to the midway point of the album. This is a summery indie punk track that I feel would have been huge in the UK a few years ago. The song hits its high point when we get the whole band singing the chorus to finish the track off – it sounds huge. The seventh song, Turisto Cracko takes you slightly by surprise with its piano led introduction. It's not long before things are switched towards a more hard rocking approach however with plenty of "ooooooo-ooooooh" harmonies spread through the song to keep Lost Love's more light hearted quality intact.
John Wayne Gretsky certainly has a Jeff Rosenstock meets The Menzingers feel to it. There are some superb wailing guitars to go along with a big introspective chorus. The punchiness in the verse really stands out and there is a fun foot stomping element to it. Each verse does a fantastic job of building towards the chorus, which is perhaps the biggest on Good Luck Rassco. Hangover Drive is another of the highlight tracks on the album. It's a love song about despite not understanding a lot of what's going on in your life the one thing that you're certain about is your love for your partner. I loved the positivity and sweetness in the song, particularly the line "you put a smile on my stupid face." Lovely, heart-warming stuff. The penultimate track, Unleash The Bees, is superb. Beginning with some soft acoustic guitar before launching into some more of that brilliant wailing guitar style. It's a big jump and ensures the track starts with a bang. This is one of the poppiest sounding songs on Good Luck Rassco. Lyrically it starts out in quite a downbeat and sombre mood with lyrics about feeling depressed before it finishes in a hugely positive way where you're encouraged to live your best life despite the naysayers. Last up is Burrito Kind Of Guy. This song makes sure that the album finishes in a big way. It starts off in a plodding way with some crunching guitars and a pounding drumbeat. There's a simplicity to the song that draws you in. The song builds brilliantly with the addition of gang vocals helping to add more and more layers to the track as it progresses. This is how you finish an album.
Lost Love's Good Luck Rassco is a must for fans of Weezer, The Menzingers and Jeff Rosenstock. It is superb catchy punk rock that is super accessible for everyone and not necessarily just fans of the punk rock genre. It works well as an easy listening background album or one that will move you with its lyrical content.
Stream and download Good Luck Rassco here: https://lostlove.bandcamp.com/
Like Lost Love here: https://www.facebook.com/lostlovemtl/
This review was written by Colin Clark.
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