“I’m not saying it’s your fault. This year has been harsh,” Lemuria sings on their new album Recreational Hate (Turbo Worldwide). And they’re not wrong. It’s been a tumultuous year for so many of us and somehow — in between the global madness of firearms and saying farewell to some huge heavyweights — we’ve clung on like weather-beaten barnacles. It’s not surprising then that the Buffalo bunch latest record is steeped in reflection.
There’s a strong focus on improving, whether rightly or wrongly. Vocalist Sheena Ozzella bids to “be a better sister” in colossal hook on “Sliver of Change” (good luck trying to dull that down for the next few weeks), which captures those all-consuming anxieties as we’re all told to knock out a new “you.”
But that’s the thing about a band like Lemuria. Of course, there has been change. The band has come a long way since their humble beginnings on the landing of an apartment stairway above Buffalo diner Amy’s Place. But 15 years of touring, four albums, and a recent 10th-anniversary release and tour has cemented this band as a titan of solid riff writing and blissful melodies.
“More Tunnel” artfully demonstrates that knack, crashing in like a Weezer great (a nod to production duties from Chris Shaw) with cyclical frustrations deep in the melody: “Closer I get, less I see.” Standout track “Christine Perfect” awakens the anxieties again: “I can’t relate and I feel guilty” plays out over seven or eight syllables with a Cramps-style shudder. But it’s not all misery in the mire. The track also awakens hope and faith in humanity as Ozzella blasts, “You make me a better living person.”
Western sparks fly in “Kicking In” with some serious steel guitar, but the middle-America road trip stretches a bit too far in the timid “Lake Below” and “Trembling Leaf,” which hang a little stark. Warmth resumes with “Marigold,” a shimmering ode to selfless love: “Just because she’s sad to see me go, doesn’t mean she isn’t happy. She gives me everything without ceremony.”
Recreational Hate is a release that shouldn’t be without ceremony. For a band who built up their following in sweaty dive bars teaming with punk fans, it grapples earnestly with issues they’re no doubt feeling now too. Vocalist/drummer Alex Kerns sums it up succinctly in album closer, “Best Extra.” We’re all just “searching for humanity.” And we’re all trying really, really hard.
photo courtesy Lemuria
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