|
Logan Square are a foursome hailing from the western suburbs
of Chicago with a combination of reality-drenched vocals in an Armor
For Sleep drilling motion and energetic chord movements implemented
in works by Mashlin and Saves The Day. Logan Square's
debut album on Fearless Records entitled Pessimism & Satire,
produced by Sean O'Keefe (Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne
Heights, Motion City Soundtrack) looks at the darker side
of relationships with heartaching lyrical content and trellises of
umbra-chilling guitar hues.
The album opens strong, shooting from a livewire of arsenal with
tracks like "I Wish You Hell," "Misdirection,"
and "Fire and Kerosene." Three hard rock numbers in a
row with rumbling drum kicks and seething guitar series creating
beefy, circling textures around the vocals with lyrics from "I
Wish You Hell" like: "This is all your fault now/ I tried
and tried and tried/ You'll never change/ I wish you well, maybe
I wish you Hell/ So I'll tell you from these lips you can't kiss/
Everything you did just felt so wrong/ Now I'm alright and now you'll
never once be missed."
Words that crash and burn is Logan Square's predominant impulse, though
the track "Brilliant Lives" is a soothing, dreamy piece
with romantic lyrics strung up like a lovers serenade binding a mixture
of acoustic and electric ambiences. The mood shifts back to the scepter
of tense, sharp, primal riffs, piercing vocals, and pounding rhythms
from tracks like "When I Find You" and "I'll Get There,"
with a tightness that can be aligned to AFI and Crossfade.
Focal tracks like "Last Kiss Goodnight" and "Alley
Cat," pulse at a heart beating rate and brood with flutes of
winding guitar chords and wisps of aggressive vocal movements that
pipe through the transitions wire the passages together. The vocals
are an active part of the songs, administering the fluxes and the
pulleys that chain the arrangements together and give the melodies
an expressive rage. The tempos keep in the upbeat to mid-tempo range
with a single soliciting ballad with an amorous filament fusing through
"Brilliant Lives."
The last track "I'm So Sorry" makes due with what's left
after the crash and burn strategy is executed. Finding closure, the
harmony vocals act as the ego and the alter-ego conceding that the
relationship is over and reach for peace of mind and stability by
letting go of the image to make the relationship work with an apologetic
pathos. The number rocks with rafters of spirited drum beats and furious
spinning textures of guitar fumes. The album is comprised of a succession
of emotions that go through you when a relationship is over, trying
to wipe away the residue and old baggage and offer a shy hint that
romance could be lining the horizon. Collaring the hard-hitting lyrics
are laps of febrile chord series, sturdy rhythm braces, and a barb
of whipping vocals.
Logan Square's Pessimism & Satire has been warmly received
in their home state of Illinois and along the college radio circuit.
Band members Bradley M. Chagdes (guitar, vocals), Chris
Smith (drums, vocals, percussion), Steve Lyons (bass, vocals),
and Chris Tiritilli (guitar, vocals) all share the duty of
singing, like Boston's The Receiving End of Sirens. The band's
lineup came together in 2005 and they signed to Fearless Records and
will be touring through 2006.
Brad Chagdes says on the band's official website about music, "Bands
got me through a lot throughout different stages of my life. I'd
like to do that for people."
In a crash and burn type of way, Pessimism & Satire achieves
Brad's objective.
-Susan Frances
Tracklisting:
1. I Wish You Hell
2. Misdirection
3. Fire and Kerosene
4. Last Kiss Goodnight
5. Alley Cat
6. Is This How You Feel?
7. Buried
8. Brilliant Lives
9. When I Find You
10. I'll Get There
11. I'm So Sorry
Check out more
reviews
 Talk
Back
e-mail the chief
Like this article?
e-mail
it to a friend!
|
Logan
Square 
