Minneapolis musicians are tough. Not a "hey-let's-take-this-outside" kind of tough, but spiritually, mentally tough. Extended winters make them prove their mettle, and this forced endurance adds character and depth to their music. While Minneapolis-based trio Live in Japan's melancholy hearts may be well hidden underneath layers of sweaters and ThinsulateTM outerwear, they sing freely of the lingering ache and ever present hope continually coursing through their chests.
Live in Japan's new album, When I was a Liar, demonstrates their mastery of a Pedro the Lionesque "subdued slouch rock," but the band never quite harnesses the underlying bounce and drive that make the Lion roar. With funeral march tempos and drained, restrained vocals (lying somewhere on a plane between Jeremy Post [Model Engine/Black Eyed Sceva] and early Michael Stipe [R.E.M.]), Live in Japan captures the same confessional tone as some of the more dispirited Violent Femmes or very early Toad the Wet Sprocket tunes.
There's potential that emerges from the dreariness pervading this album. The groove and style of "Landlord" show the band can reach beyond their "dark cloud" comfort zone. "Matterhorn Drive," an introspective song about watching traffic from an overpass, feels like a Minnesota winter--dismal but somehow strangely satisfying.
Live in Japan lays down some wonderfully haunting audio atmospheres with intriguing guitar sounds by Dan Scott and consistently smooth and extremely tasteful bass lines by Nathaniel Morton. Perhaps a few more winters will allow the band to emerge from their basement with an emo masterpiece.
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Similar sounding releases
1998CoboltSpirit on Parole
2005Summer LawnsFirst We Waited... Then It Started
2001The FramesFor the Birds
1996BedheadBeheaded
2001The Potomac AccordSilver Line on a Black Sea
2004Suffering & The Hideous ThievesRats in Heaven
