Customer Reviews

Dayglo

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Love Battery have been fixtures in the Seattle music scene since early 1989 when they cut their first singles with legendary producer Jack Endino. They rose out of the ashes of leader Ron Nine's band Room Nine, which never made an impact outside of the local music scene, but remain somewhat of a cult fascination among the Love Battery faithful, and those few who experienced the music in the late 1980's.
Love Battery is one of those bands that make you scratch your head and wonder why the hell they never went anywhere commercially. They seemed to have all the ingredients- inventive songwriting, intelligent lyrics, lots of guitars, and hooks galore. They were grunge before grunge became Grunge. And "Dayglo", their first full length album for Sub Pop, has that classic grunge sound we all became familiar with through Nirvana, Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden. It is truly a masterpiece from the first track to the last- and definitely one of the most overlooked albums ever.
The genius of "Dayglo" lies in the recording process. On their own, the ten songs that make up the album would still stand tall, but what elevates it to greatness and perfection is in the approach used to craft it. It is obviously cut live in the studio, and in doing so, preserves the energy and raw spirit that was the undeniable strength of the band. Recorded at local Egg Studios with recording master Conrad Uno and John Auer, this method proved a masterstroke of genius. Every track thunders with power and explosiveness, and there is not a weak moment on the entire record. The songs flow from one to other seamlessly and alternate between heavy, driving distortion- and the complete opposite of that, such as on "Side(With You), a powerful ballad with acoustic guitars and a wrenching guitar solo that will induce a cringe as Kevin Whitworth bends his strings toward the ceiling. Other songs, such as "Blonde", feature an indecipherable vocal buried deeply in a gorgeous bath of feedback and guitar leads. But, as is the case throughout this entire album- it is a perfect expression of the song and fits like in no other way. The next track, "Dayglo" begins with a slow mid-tempo drum intro which builds and then explodes into a wicked lead guitar and full-on band assault that virtually drowns out the vocals for the majority of the song. The breaks in between the chorus and verses are brilliant, swimming leisurely in a wall of sound and then slamming furiously again into the verse- which is the hardest, most aggressive moments of the tune- and perhaps the whole album. The closer, "23 Modern Stories" is a distortion-free Beatle-esque type of song, relying heavily on the vocal talents of Ron Nine and the often overlooked harmonies of the rest of the band.
Listening to this album, you discover new sounds with every new listen. Throughout this review I have raved about the way it was recorded, and unless you take the time to open your mind up to the experience, it may not be altogether obvious the first time you put it on. I recommend that you lie on your bed, turn off all the lights, and clear your mind. Put on a pair of headphones, close your eyes and turn up the volume. I swear to god, it will sound as though you are right there in the room with the band as this is being played. You will hear mistakes, dropped keys, between song banter, and even the fingers of Kevin Whitworth and Ron Nine slide across their guitar strings (Damaged) as they play. It is , literally, like nothing you have ever heard or will ever hear again. "Dayglo" is quite convincingly, a masterpiece- a singular moment in time when everything came together at the right time, in the right place, and with the four right musicians. Hearing it today, it is still as fresh as ever. With every listen you are transported to that little studio in Washington state where four musicians were pouring their hearts into making ten songs of sonic perfection. Before Nirvana, before "Singles", and definitely before we all knew about grunge, these guys were creating it. And this is a perfect documentation of that.

As daufhin thorndike has so correctly stated an attractive feature that conveys this bands ability to give the listener an eargasm is the brilliant crafstmanship of those at the helm in the recording and mixing processes.I have this band's earlier releases and although they are most definitely desirable in their own right they do convey the message that something better may be steaming down the tracks.Well that portent of good things to come is 'Dayglo'.I would however point out to perspective purchasers that Dayglo though brimming with a heaping helping of heavy grungy goodness is also laced with elements of jazzoid-beebop coolness,trippy psychedelia and folksy janglings.If you don't care for these musical paths individually you will be most pleasantly pleased and overwhelmed to hear how well all these diverse styles are blended together so effectively.This album always manages to sound fresh and it always seems to satisfy no matter what mood I'm in.

This is a bad-ass band from Seattle that is extremely overlooked, so look into them.

No joke, it will.
I got into this group, like most every other reviewer here, through the brilliance of Nirvana and Soundgarden, etc. But I didn't expect something so little-known and so obscure to have anything on the famous ones. But this album is just incredible.
To add on to this conversation going on, the "facts" state that Green River released the first grunge record. Even so, you could even argue that Black Flag's "My War" album defined the sound. It doesn't really matter who created it, it matters who MASTERED it. Love Battery definitely do that here. And the hint of psychedelia makes it even more incredible.

I think all of this Nirvana criticism is unwarranted. Cobain's love of distortion and gutwrenching lyrics probably made them my favorite group of the alternative movement. "In Utero" and 'MTV Unplugged' are a testament to what those three guys could do together.

Anyway, buy this album

This album is one of the best i've ever heard. 8-track recording made it sound like a mellow guitar/drum heaven. To me, it really prove that sometimes, really often in reality, the music industry capitalise all their power on high lights and miss the best. This album was overflown by those of Nirvana, Soudgarden, Mudhoney but to me it's one of the best. Maybe little less aggresive than others, this album really define that grunge mellow (slide distorded guitar) that sound better on a old tape. Who can believe that Jason Finn (of President of the USA) is playing drum on this album in a totally diffenrent way (louder and less excited) than in his other top chart band. REally this album is a must that almost nobody knows. Everytime you listen to it, you can say : Today's rock really suck !

I saw Love Battery play a gig with Afghan Whigs (who were the headliners) at the Off Ramp in Seattle sometime around '91 or '92. At least I think it was the Off Ramp because I recall eating the breakfast they always served right after the shows (the "Hash After the Bash") and talking to one of the bandmembers, an African-American guy who I think was the bass player. It was a fantastic show and while the Whigs were great, Love Battery were outstanding and stole the night. There was a real buzz around the club, this was a bit after Grunge had hit its stride and everyone was looking for the "next big band" to come out of Seattle. I was certain it would be Love Battery and like a couple other reviewers never understood why they didn't hit it big! I never really thought of Love Battery as a pure grunge band ala Mudhoney; they definitely had a healthy dose of grunge fuzz but with a psychedelic twist. It was their own sound and I admired them for that because they didn't try to do Grunge 101 like many, many bands in Seattle at the time! I saw them play several times and they were always great live. Wish I still my original Dayglo CD, no idea what I ever did with that... It has never been available on iTunes - I was very happy to discover it finally on Amazon and downloaded it tonight and am listening to it as I type. Brings back some (hazy) memories. It was a fun time to be in Seattle.

this disc is crazy good...as is anything by love battery...i recommend between the eyes as well as dayglo...but i would like to say something to the tool (Daufhin Thorndike) that wrote a review a few down...something about how this is grunge....and before nirvana and such...and thats totally wrong...i mean..dayglo for one thing came out in 1992 after NEVERMIND had been released....these guys did not invite grunge...they played it...but they did do a grand job at that...if anything MUDHONEY created grunge....NIRVANA made it popular...and you cant deny that...now as to the LOVE BATTERY creating it...NO...NEGATORY buddy...get your years straight...you even say in 1989...well NIRVANA was around in 1986 and 87 especially...so idk...about you saying BEFORE NIRVANA..cause NIRVANA released NEVERMIND BEFORE DAYGLO...idk..its really upsetting to see kids talking about a style of music that is so dear to me...and they get the facts wrong....these guys are great...and i think that everyone should listen to them...but come on...dont kid yourself...without nirvana you wouldnt have even heard about these guys over in NEW YORK...SERIOUSLY..think about...ok...so now that the nirvana praise is over with...lets move onto MUDHONEY the REAL creaters of grunge...go out and buy there stuff...and see where grunge truly came from...this is kinda a rip off of it...but its a good one...kinda like pearl jam..minus the eddie vedder...