Rating: ****
I already reviewed the first single "Spanish Shores" by Portsmouth, VA's Lucky 757 and you can read that here.
I finally got around to listening to the whole LP by the modern masters of the surf rock sound and I jotted all of my thoughts down. Every single one of them! Well I was hungry while I was writing and I didn't talk about that, but I am here and I guess that counts.
Let's check out "Lonesome Lagoon" in its entirety! C'mon!
Listen to "Fernando" on Soundcloud here:
Ok, so "Spanish Shores" leads us off. I talked about this track in a prior review so I'm not gonna beat a dead horse here but the short story is I loved it. "Mar Agitado" is a Munsters-theme-sounding track and honestly I liked it a lot. It's not revolutionizing the genre, but it's solid nonetheless. "Cross Steppin'" sounds wholly original and that's something in the surf rock game. Well-played and structured, it's a fresh take on this style of music for sure. "Reflecting" is a slower ballad that is reminiscent of Richie Valens. "Belvedere Banzai" sounds like so many surf rock anthems before it and has moments of just shredding lead guitar work. "Fernando" is truly original in its sound. I think this is one of the highlight tracks for me (that's why I featured it above). "The Voyager" is a little bluesier than the rest and that's ok. I actually don't LOVE this one. But it's still solid. "MONSTA!" sounds like the Munsters theme also and due to that, it sounds very similar to Mar Agitado. "Mugsy" is rad. Just a super fun track that sounds like the theme to Tom chasing Jerry around. Title track "Lonesome Lagoon" finishes us out. It's a sadder, western-sounding tune that leaves you thinking you might not hear from the protagonist for a while. But it was cool when they were here.
Really solid album by a really solid band. I think "Lonesome Lagoon" is gonna scratch the surf rock and rockabilly itch for most. It has some slow spots, and like most surf rock, lacks originality in spots. But they are great players and have enough innovation to keep it fresh. I highly recommend it.