Customer Reviews

Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think its rare to hear a new artist and instantly feel a connection to their work. This is the reason I was so impressed and pleasantly surprised when I recently saw L.P perform at the Virgin Mega Store in Union Square, NYC. I must say I think LP is a breath of fresh air, whose sound will please the masses while still retaining its appeal as a provocative and different new group. A guaranteed good time, you won't be able to get "Suburan Sprawl and Alcohol" out of your car stereo.

The first time I saw/heard L.P. was when my band played a show with them in Georgia, and I was instantly floored. Insanely talented musicians, and L.P. herself has an incredible voice. Suddenly one of my favorite bands.

Play this album LOUD! Awesome original songs with great hooks, a passionate and powerful vocalist, supported by a *rocking* band combine to overwhelm me each time I listen to this album.

See them live if you possibly can! http://www.lprock.com. Incredible energy and charismatic stage presence don't even begin to describe.

P.S. 'Little Death' rocks and has the best bridge in R&R.

Just got back from the South by Southwest conference where I saw a lot of great bands, but the only one that blew my mind was this group from NYC called L.P. (later found out that's the singer's name). On Friday night, my sister and I were getting ready to call it a night after watching way too many bands, and were looking for a cab when we happened to be walking past Coyote Ugly, of all places, and heard this amazing rock 'n roll coming out the doorway. We didn't say anything to each other, just wandered in like we were hypnotized. Watched the last 1/2 of their set with our jaws agape. It was like stumbling into a club in the 70s and happening upon T. Rex or Patti Smith Group or the Pretenders. We just couldn't believe what we were hearing. Easily the best band we saw at SXSW, and we saw some pretty damn good bands. They were just fantastic. L.P. is unbelievably talented and her band just rocks like hell. She sings every song like it's the last thing she'll ever do. My favorite song she did when I saw her play is actually a non-CD track available on her website (www.lprock.com) called My Cinderella - it's an instant classic, look under Downloads. I guess that will be on next album. This record is still great though, so many good songs. Even if you're really picky and not easily impressed, this will impress you. And your friends will thank you for turning them onto something great.

It's an insult to compare L.P. to Gwen Stefani and imitative bands like No Doubt. Comparing her to Janis Joplin may be closer to the truth. Fact is, she sounds like no-one I've ever heard, and in today's world, that's pretty damn rare. With an awesome band backing her at time plaintive, raging vocals, Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol should establish L.P. as a major force in Rock. Standout tracks include Cadillac Life, Little Death, Wasted, the title track....umm, actually, the whole album is just awesome. Really.

For some "hot fun in the summertime," try this album from indie-rock band L.P., which share those initials with its unnamed & enigmatic frontwoman. Eleven songs of love, lust & longing raise the temperature and crackle with the enery of heat lightening on a summer night.

The fragile powerhouse who fronts L.P. is a young woman whose meticulously honed talent brings us an arresting array of material in this album that should not be such a well-kept secret. Songs range from the bachanalian chant of "Little Death" to the soulful anthem (& title track) "Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol."

The vital rock format is well-crafted here, but the propulsive music is anything but generic. Treat yourself to something that will stop you in your/those ho-sum, sing-song tracks. These are stunning downtown art songs that allow listeners to get "Wasted" (track 1, a sort of carpe-diem power ballad: "get wasted on love...life...with me") on something that's very right indeed.

The listenable lyrics are smart and entertaining; irony and humor are used to good effect. "Darkside" croons " I hope you're happy with your ordinary life/It's the wrong place/the wrong time/the darkside."

Most of these songs speak with a disarming directness that, combined with the purity of L.P.'s vocals, create something more than another college station sound.

It would seem unlikely that the beautiful bearer of the voice behind S.S.&A. is channeling loss, regret, and yearning (as opposed to, say, exhilaration, ecstasy, and ego). A winning ambisexual combination of pre-Raphaelite angel and the young Bruce Springsteen, L.P.'s performance style is uncalculated and unrestrained. With a face like a cameo portrait, this self-professed "big ol' d*ke" eludes easy categorization. Her voice's extraordinary technical and expressive qualities leave few unmoved and are best showcased here on the title track. Its simple refrain, "we all turn back in the end," is like a prism she's holding to the light and tilting as it shimmers between anguish, indignation, and acceptance.

L.P.'s live shows begin with (and sustain) a fierce energy that would seem to explain the lightening bolt image on the cover of a previous album, "Heart-
Shaped Scar." I heard the band open for Joe Grushecky at the Stone Pony (Asbury Park, NJ) in Feb. '06 and they were anything but overshadowed by the talent that came before and after them. Expect to be astonished!

I saw the band last night in Portland, Maine. What a great bunch of songs, with a strong lead singer with a great voice. The band is soild as a rock. Let's put it this way after getting home from the show, I am up buying both albums. No matter what you are into L.P. may be the cure. This band is going to make it all the way, mark my words.

BUY THIS CD....

L.P. is the best band ever. L.P. is 100X better than Gwen Stefani or any of those so called rock chicks, so why isn't L.P. the biggest band ever. Buy the CD and you will see why I love them so much. From Heartless to Little Death, I'm addicted. And be sure to tell everyone you've ever met.

I have a Saturday night radio show, and I reviewed this CD for on-air play. It is good. LP really knows how to build the tension in these songs. The title track is my favorite; it's really powerful. Buy it!

"Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol" is wonderful - great songs, great playing, and L.P.'s incomparable voice! All the fun & energy of their live show with a nice polish. "Wasted", "Little Death", "All I Have", and "The Darkside" are the songs that stuck with me from her live set and they did not disappoint!

This is really one of the better albums I've heard in a while. And L.P. has chunks of the likes of Gwen Stefani in her stool!